Kirsty Maxwell: Crime expert takes closer look into death of Livingston woman who died after balcony fall in Spain

A crime expert has accused the Spanish police of making “irretrievable errors” in their investigation into the death of Kirsty Maxwell, a West Lothian woman who died while on holiday in Spain.

Kirsty Maxwell, 27, from Livingston, died after falling from the tenth floor of an apartment block in Benidorm on April 27, 2017, while on a hen do with friends.

Five British men from the Nottingham area were staying in the apartment. Police believed she walked into this room by mistake, as her friends were staying in a neighbouring room.

In September 2019, a Spanish judge ruled that the five men had no involvement in her death. However, the 27-year old’s family have repeatedly called for the case to be re-examined.

An episode of a new podcast, Swindle’s Search for the Truth, takes a closer look at Kirsty’s death.

Former detective David Swindle, who is now a multilingual consultant reviewer and crime adviser, has been helping the family investigate since 2017.

He said: "When I met Kirsty’s family [...] , and they started to tell me about all the unanswered questions they had about investigations into Kirsty’s death, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”

Kirsty Maxwell, 27, who fell to her death from a balcony while on holiday in Benidorm, Spain.

"What a sad and upsetting meeting that was listening to a family who had lost the lovely Kirsty in another country and were who struggling to grapple with not only losing her but trying to understand Spanish processes and translation difficulties."

The crime expert also noted that he “found it hard to comprehend why there were so many issues with that Spanish investigation”.

He said: “There were irretrievable errors made, and evidence lost. There is no doubt about that.”

In 2018, forensic experts admitted that Kirsty’s clothes were not examined using a microscope before being “discarded and destroyed”. Mr Swindle described this as “a major failure”.

Kirsty with her husband Adam, before her death.

Last year, Kirsty’s family released a statement to mark the four-year anniversary of her death.

They said: “It has been four years since Kirsty’s suspicious, brutal death in Spain.

“All we ask is for a door to be opened to the full, honest truth and facts about what caused her senseless death.

“As each year goes by, we still fight on, assisted by our legal team and everyone who continues to support us searching for answers and the truth about what happened to Kirsty.

“Again, the Spanish media call Kirsty’s death a riddle, it doesn’t have to be a riddle, not if we are allowed to present all the information on the table to complete the puzzle.

“Evidence being lost, destroyed and denied is unacceptable, we still keep pushing for answers, truth and progress hoping that the Spanish authorities will do the right thing and investigate all angles we have requested to be done.

“The Spanish justice system must take into consideration that basic and important lines of inquiry were not followed and all we ask is for them to please do everything to investigate the full circumstances of Kirsty’s death.

“We still appeal for those to come forward with any information which could assist us.”

Anyone with information that could assist with the investigation should contact David Swindle and his team via one of three email addresses; [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].