Portugal's Ace Reporter

Whilst the local English newspaper, the Portugal News is not the bestest writ, like wot my blog is, news offering in the world, it does offer us expats a modicum of an insight as to what is happening in Portugal, especially if you want to know about the weekly diary of Milo the dog, or about the many dogs and kittens are waiting to be re-homed or in this case, the increasing crime that is sweeping across the Algarve. This latest story caught my eye;

A British citizen who until Tuesday morning this week had been presumed dead by the police has emerged alive but reportedly mutilated and tortured after managing to escape from a house in the Algarve where he had been held captive for the past two weeks over an unpaid drug debt.

The British national, who has been identified as James Ross, 26, reportedly a married father-of-two from Wicks, Caithness, was kidnapped by a group of fellow Brits immediately after he landed at Faro Airport on October 5th.

Prior to his escape the case was being investigated by PJ police and all indications pointed to the man having been kidnapped and murdered.

After managing to flee from his place of captivity (a house near Boliqueime, Loulé), with the help of a passer-by who found him stumbling throughout the streets of Alfontes village, he was taken to an undisclosed hospital for treatment. The man is believed to have been kept “tied up and very mistreated.”

National newspaper Correio da Manhã (CM) claims Ross was held captive after being lured to the Algarve to pay off a £10,000 unpaid drug-deal debt owed to a man identified as John Mclean.

He was allegedly told he could pay off the debt by working on a cannabis farm, but was subjected to the horrific ordeal practically straight after touching down in Faro.

Police will question him about the circumstances surrounding the incident during his stay in hospital.

According to a PJ source the man was partially mutilated on one ear, Lusa News Agency reported.

A different source told Lusa that a Scottish man was being treated in a regional hospital for a partly-cut ear and a wound to a finger, and that the man had been escorted to the hospital by GNR officers.

Regional newspaper Observ-atório do Algarve reported the man, who they identified as a 26-year-old Scotsman, had had an ear, finger and 3 toes amputated, two broken legs and that he has been tortured.

...... "and that he had been tortured", bloody hell, I think that was a bit of an understatement.