A teenager from Buckinghamshire was 'locked in darkness for 40 hours' and 'beaten and assaulted' while on holiday in Barcelona.

Aston Bowring, 19, from Great Kingshill in Hughenden, was on holiday in Barcelona with his girlfriend Leanne in July when Spanish police officers arrested him on charges of assault and held him in custody for over 40 hours.

Aston's father Mark said his son had been treated 'disgracefully' following his arrest and, while he has now returned to the UK, is continuing to suffer from depression and PTSD as a result of the experience.

Aston and Leanne were standing on the side of a street in Barcelona on Wednesday, July 26, and were panicking because Leanne's phone only had a four per cent charge and they needed to book an Uber back to their hotel when two plain-clothed officers "rushed" at the 19-year-old. 

Mark said: "He didn't realise they were police and thought he was being mugged so he started to fight them off, then more officers arrived and arrested him. They put him in the car, in painfully tight handcuffs and left his 18-year-old girlfriend alone in the street."

Aston claimed he was held in custody for around 20 hours, in a mixed cell with an unstable individual who repeatedly screamed and shook the bars, before discovering that he had been detained on suspicion of assault on his girlfriend and a police officer.

He said he was later attacked by his cellmate and claimed at one point he ripped off his clothes and punched him in what Aston described as an attempted sexual assault for which, to his understanding, he was not given the opportunity to press charges. 

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Following the court proceedings, which were also beyond his comprehension as they took place entirely in Spanish, and during which he followed his solicitor's advice to plead 'not guilty' and state 'no comment', Aston eventually made it back to the UK, with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Although he has been back in the country since the end of July, Mark said the lasting impact of his son's experiences in Barcelona is clear to see.

"When he arrived back, he went to a GP to document his not-insignificant injuries and broke down in the surgery. Not a night has gone by when he hasn't had night terrors, he can't sleep without a light on, he has mass panic attacks in any kind of confined space and he is suffering from severe depression and PTSD.

"As a parent, all of it was just awful to hear about. He phoned me the morning after he had been assaulted in the cell and I just felt hopeless, like I couldn't do anything.

"Aston is only 19, he has never been in any trouble with the police or otherwise, and he teaches sports to primary school children. But for 40 hours, he was locked in darkness, beaten and nearly sexually assaulted. 

"There is only one victim here, and that is Aston. He is literally a shadow of the boy he was when he left for his trip. It is utterly, utterly disgraceful."

A spokesperson for the FCDO said: “We provided consular assistance to a British man who was arrested in Barcelona.”

A representative for the Mossos d’Esquadra, the Police of the Generalitat of Catalonia, acknowledged that Aston was assaulted in his cell, but added: “We cannot speak of a specific case in detail.

“This individual was arrested for a crime and after 72 hours he was released and driven to the airport. Our officers take the action required of them and follow the law, and a judge decides if the individual is guilty or not guilty.”