Craig Mallon, 26, grew up in Lanarkshire, Scotland. After college, Craig worked for the international engineering firm Laing O’Rourke, as a quantity surveyor responsible for large projects overseas. He excelled within the company and became a respected member of the organization.
Laing O’Rourke transferred him to its Middle East region in Dubai and, ultimately, Sydney as his career grew. He had great potential and was well-liked by his colleagues. While in Sydney, he made several close friends and had a promising future.
Craig’s brother, Bryan Mallon, was getting married and chose to have his pre-arranged stag party (bachelor party) in the Catalonia region of Spain.
On May 18, 2012, Bryan, Craig, and several friends arrived in Lloret de Mar and checked in to the H-Top Gran Casino Royal, now L’Azure Hotel.
Later that night, the group headed out to the local clubs, wearing black shirts with green writing on the front and back. They tried entering several bars on Carrer Pla de Carbonell. However, they were crowded, so the group went to the nearby Rockefellers Disco Club at Carrer Josep de Togores 7, about a 4-minute walk from their hotel.
Craig’s group spent the night dancing and drinking alcohol and chatted with several people. Craig danced with a few women attracted by his energetic and outgoing personality. The group was having a good time, and everyone was in great spirits. The bar’s atmosphere has been described as “good-humored, with various nationalities and groups of young men and women.”
Craig and the group often went outside the bar to have cigarettes. By 3 a.m., some had reached their alcohol limit and departed Rockefellers. Only four remained, including Craig.
Rockefellers closed shortly after 6 a.m. Craig, his friends, and other bar patrons left the premises at different times. There were over 60 people outside the bar congregating on the street.
The other bars closed simultaneously, so the area was busy with groups of people flooding the streets.
Craig and the remaining group members became involved in a conversation with a few French and Spanish men. At around 6:20 a.m., in an unprovoked attack, one of these men punched Craig in the head, killing him. The assault happened a short distance east of Rockefellers in front of a city park.
Immediately, his friends started fighting with the assailant and the assailant’s group. Shortly after, amid the chaos, the perpetrators fled the scene.
A blonde Spanish-speaking female tried to help Craig as he lay on the ground and touched his face, trying to revive him, but it was too late. She and her friend left the scene, saying they were getting a taxi to Blanes, about a 10-minute drive from Lloret de Mar.
When the Spanish police, Mossos d’Esquadra, Mossos for short, arrived, they cordoned off the scene, recorded video, and immediately began an extensive homicide investigation.
Several witnesses gave detailed testimony to Mossos. Some of the women who had danced with Craig at the bar helped piece together Craig’s final movements and the events leading up to the fatal assault. A few witnesses saw a tall (around 6 feet 2 inches), well-built man flexing his muscles and provoking Craig’s group to fight.
Numerous people standing in the street near Craig’s attack hold vital information but have never come forward. Mossos has been unable to trace their identities.
Police discovered that shortly after Craig’s assault, four French men unexpectedly checked out of their hotel, possibly the Hotel Acapulco Lloret, about two blocks west of Rockefellers. They have never come forward.
Police have been unable to trace the Spanish-speaking woman cradling Craig on the street or her friend with her that night. One of them may be “Lily” from Venezuela. They are seen below with an older, gray-haired male standing outside the Texas Disco Pub until 6:17 a.m. The women then walked to the area of the assault. They were well-known regulars at Texas Disco Pub. Both women were between 30 and 35 years old and would be in their 40s now.
Crime expert and retired police detective David Swindle discovered the identities of those he believed killed Craig.
CraigMallon.com reports, “Ian has written to one of these men who stays in the Bobigny Area of Paris, France but has not received a response.”
Swindle further learned that an English-speaking woman telephoned emergency services and spoke of a tall man and other individuals involved in a fight. Nevertheless, she has not come forward either.
Swindle has helped the Mallon family for several years and started Victims Abroad on Aug. 21, 2021. He has assisted in the Kirsty Maxwell investigation. You can read about Kirsty here.
According to the Craig Mallon website, “Laing O’Rourke has provided close support for Craig’s family since the day he was killed and has financially backed his family’s search for the truth, engaging various experts to support the family-focused appeal.”
The Mallons returned to Lloret de Mar on the first anniversary of Craig’s death to launch an appeal consisting of “a multilingual poster campaign linked to a high-profile multilingual social networking and media strategy, plus access to a Spanish Lawyer and other experts.”
Ian told the Glasgow Times in 2022 that he “suffered two heart attacks and a stroke.” He also underwent “spinal surgery that left him in a wheelchair for 20 months.”
Antoinette died of lung cancer on May 18, 2018, the same day she lost her son in 2012.
Ian is still fighting for answers to his son’s senseless murder. The family has made several public appeals for information on Craig’s death. You can follow the investigation on Facebook – Craig Mallon Appeal.
If you have any information about Craig’s death, email info@craigmallon.com or message them on Facebook.
All Sources
- “Coatbridge Dad Demands Justice for Son Craig Mallon who was Murdered in Spain.” Glasgow Times. August 5, 2022.
- CraigMallon.com
- Craig Mallon Appeal — Facebook
- Oyster.com
- Rockefellers — Facebook
