El Mundo
David Serrano, owner of the Totalán (Málaga) estate where Julen died after his fall through an illegal well on January 13, will base his defense strategy to avoid being accused of reckless homicide in blaming pocero Antonio Sánchez for carrying out the well without the permits and not having sealed it, according to EL MUNDO confirm next sources. The owner of the plot today will give a press conference in Malaga to argue that it was «an accident» and insist that he was not aware that the drilling did not have the authorization of the Junta de Andalucía or that the two concrete blocks he had used to cover her they had moved. The man, who is very affected by the tragic end of Julen, has hired the prestigious lawyer Antonio Flores Costasoleño to get rid of the possibility that the magistrate of the Court of Instruction No. 9 of Malaga investigating the case accuse him of reckless homicide. «He insists that he hired the well, thinking that he had requested the permits because in most cases the wells are the ones who carry out those steps. They have in their possession the documentation requested by the Board to drill and have the obligation, as set out in the Andalusian Water Law, to refrain from carrying out a well if they do not have the authorization, «says a close friend of Serrano, who in his first statement before the Civil Guard acknowledged that he had not requested the permits believing that «Antonio was a specialist» and would take care of all the paperwork. The owner has not yet testified before the courts. El pocero assured the officers that Serrano had told him that he had the documentation to make the well, although he acknowledged not having seen it. «I trusted because in the plot there was already another well made,» said Sanchez, who explained that he covered the hole with a stone of about 15 kilos that was moved later. Serrano, on the other hand, continues to insist that the pitcher left the hole uncovered and that he had to do it with two concrete blocks that he saw displaced when the boy fell. His version is supported by the statement of the machinist who made the «L» shaped ditch where the well was located. «I moved the montonera with the shovel about four meters from the well on the same plot, since David told me he wanted it to make cement. After removing the sand, the hole could be seen flush with the ground. When I left I saw how David put some stones in the ditch over the hole, «he explained to the agents. Reckless homicide The owner of the plot says he did not know that those concrete blocks had moved and that he did not know that a child like Julen could fit into that hole. «The first rescue experts who came to the scene did not believe it, imagine David. In the crime of reckless homicide the factor of subjectivity plays a lot and David was not aware that this area was a risk zone for Julen «, they explain from the surroundings of the owner. The Civil Guard believes that Serrano, a cousin of Julen’s father’s cousin, could be accused of reckless homicide because he organized a lunch in a construction zone and with a poorly sealed well without guaranteeing the safety of the attendees. The Water Law of Andalusia determines in article 53 that it is the owner of the land who is obliged to cover the well. If it does not close it, the Board must require the owner to do so and, if it does not comply, the administration should seal it properly.