A mum who believes her son was murdered in Spain has made a heartbreaking journey to the spot where he died in a desperate bid for answers. Sandra Adams has spent this week trying to speak to police and locals in Mojacar on the Costa Almeria where Brett Dryden was found dead with a four-inch gash to his head last July.
On what would have been her son’s 36th birthday last Friday, Sandra and more than 20 of Brett’s loved ones embarked on a memorial walk, wearing T-shirts emblazoned with a message calling for justice.
She also laid flowers outside his villa, where he was found, and spent several moments in silent reflection. Sandra, 56, told the Mirror: “We put flowers outside Brett’s villa. It was the first time I’ve been back since it happened. It was really quite hard… soul destroying.
“But I feel really close to him being here. It has helped me to come here and be amongst his friends because he loved the place. I feel a little bit of peace.”
Sandra was stopped by locals and ex-pats during the memorial walk. She said: “People stopped us and asked us what had happened and there were still quite a lot of people who didn’t know.
“One of Brett’s neighbours pulled us and said ‘it’s disgusting. They’re clearly trying to cover something up’. There was another woman who lived in Brett’s street who pulled us and asked what had happened. I told her ‘it wasn’t an accident’.”
“She said ‘he was a lovely boy – when I first moved in he helped put my TV up and move my furniture in.”
Sandra and her husband Robert – Brett’s stepdad – travelled to Spain from their home in Chester-le-Street, Co Durham. They had planned to hold a protest outside Mojacar town hall and hand out leaflets to raise awareness about Brett’s case.
But they were forced to abandon the plan after police told them to do so would be illegal as they needed to apply for a license for the event 40 days in advance. Sandra, who fears police are covering up Brett’s death to protect tourism, said: “I went to the Guardia house to try and speak to the officers and they just said ‘no, no, no, ring this number, we can’t tell you anything. It’s so frustrating.
“The captain of the local police rang me and then met us and said we needed to apply for a license 40 days before to hold a protest. But he was really lovely and very empathetic. He’s the only person who has showed any effort or compassion towards us.
“He rang me again on Friday and asked if everything was OK and if I had any problems to give him a ring.”
Dad-of-one Brett, a former Nissan factory worker, had lived in Mojacar for five years while running a legal cannabis club called The Dawg House. When Brett’s friends found him on July 22 last year police officers initially told them ‘there’s been a violent murder’ and that he had been hit with an axe.
A postmortem in Spain ruled his death was due to a blood clot in his lungs, known as a pulmonary embolism. But Sandra and her family suspect foul play as a large amount of cash, his mobile and designer sunglasses were later discovered to be missing.
Brett’s neighbours later told Robert they had CCTV footage showing three men running away from Brett’s home on the night he died. And Sandra says she also received a silent call from her son’s phone, several hours after medics say he died.
After tracking the handset, she found it was being turned on and off while moving to different locations in Spain. Sandra is now planning to scatter some of Brett’s ashes in Mojacar and now wants to return to hold a protest there on the anniversary of his death in July. She said: “I won’t rest until I get justice.”
Spanish police have declined to comment on the case. A court spokesman previously told us: “The investigation hasn’t been suspended or closed. It is still open and this incident remains under investigation.
“The court is waiting for the Civil Guard to complete their full report and present their conclusions. For the time being there’s nothing more we can say.”
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