Irish wife, 37, who groped Swedish 18-year-old in Magaluf hotel sauna while on holiday with her husband is hit with £2,300 fine
An Irish tourist has been hit with a fine after admitting to groping a man half her age in the sauna of a Magaluf hotel where she was holidaying with her husband.
The woman had been expected to protest her innocence after a preliminary hearing to see if a plea bargain deal could be thrashed out between her lawyer and a public prosecutor ended in stalemate.
But after insisting earlier this year she wanted her day in court to clear her name, the 38-year-old entered an unexpected guilty plea yesterday on the day scheduled for her trial.
She had been warned she could face an 18-month prison sentence if convicted over the June 3, 2025 sex assault.
But after her U-turn and last-minute decision to agree to a plea bargain deal, public prosecutors said they were happy for the matter to be resolved with a financial penalty.
The woman agreed to pay a fine of 2,700 euros (£2,325) and 500 euros (£430) in compensation to her victim, a Swedish tourist aged 18 when she touched his genitals without his consent in a Turkish steam bath.
She entered her guilty plea at a short hearing yesterday at the Audiencia Provincial Court in the Majorcan capital Palma via video link and was not required to travel to the island to appear in person.
The woman spent a night in a police cell last summer before an investigating magistrate released her on bail and said she was free to travel back home pending an ongoing criminal probe.
Pictured: The Irish woman arriving in court last November
Public prosecutors charged her late last year as they demanded a one-and-a-half year jail term on conviction in a three-page indictment.
The sex assault occurred around 6pm at the four-star Hotel Martinique in Magaluf on June 3 last year when the Irish woman was 37.
The indictment outlining the prosecution version of events said she sat beside the Swedish teenager when she went to the hotel’s Turkish steam bath and ‘with a lustful spirit, taking advantage of the fact that no-one else was there and against his will, put her hands on his genitals and fondled them until he said: “No, no, no” and left.’
They had moved to the Turkish steam bath from the sauna where they are understood to have engaged in some small talk.
As well as the prison term, public prosecutors had initially indicated they wanted the Irish tourist banned from working with minors for two more years and ordered to pay court costs if convicted.
They had always said they wanted her to pay her male accuser 500 euros (£430) in compensation.
Two police officers were due to be called to testify along with the offender and victim.
The woman’s defence lawyer Joan Arbos said in March after a preliminary hearing: ‘The pre-trial hearing took place behind closed doors and no agreement was reached whereby a sentence could have ended up being read out there and then if my client had accepted wrongdoing and a plea bargain deal had been struck.
‘She does not accept she committed a crime on the basis that what occurred was a simple misunderstanding.’
A source close to the case said at the time: ‘She didn’t deny touching this man’s privates in her first court appearance shortly after her arrest but she explained then she acted the way she did because she thought he was interested in her.
‘She confirmed she took her hand away as soon as he protested and she realised she’d read the situation wrong.
‘They were in the sauna together and had a conversation there and he followed her after she went into the Turkish steam bath and that led to her believing he wanted something with her.
‘The man will almost certainly testify from his home country via video link but she will go to court because she wants to clear her name and feels it’s important she should be there in person, even though she’s not obliged to be present at her trial and could also appear via video link.
Reports at the time said the Irish woman was with her husband when cops arrived and took her away
Another insider had added after that preliminary hearing: ‘The man allegedly sexually assaulted made it clear to police that when he said ‘No’, the woman took her hand away.
‘Her hope is that at trial she can persuade the judges this was nothing more than a misunderstanding and she will end up being acquitted of any wrongdoing.
‘In a worst-case scenario she’s looking at a prison sentence if she’s convicted as charged but there’s probably a good chance that even if she’s found guilty, she’ll end up with a fine.’
The Swedish teenage tourist who was groped alerted hotel staff who called the police.
Reports at the time said the Irish woman was with her husband when cops arrived and took her away.
She initially denied touching the man’s genitals to police before admitting to a ‘misunderstanding.’
Arbos said shortly after she was arrested he was going to ask for the case to be ‘discontinued’ against his client on the basis he ‘didn’t consider a crime had taken place.’
A spokesman for the Civil Guard said after the Magaluf hotel incident: ‘The alleged sexual aggressor, who was in a sauna with a younger Swedish man, was accused of touching the victim’s private parts without consent.
‘When officers arrived the victim was visibly upset. After carrying out inquiries, they proceeded to arrest the suspected offender, who was handed over to the courts.’
Prison sentences of two years or less are normally suspended in Spain for first-time offenders.
