Brit holidaymaker LOCKED UP for EIGHT DAYS in Spain after enormous police gaffe

WRONG MAN: Spanish police arrested Eddie Gossage (centre) thinking he was escaped convict Michael Phillips (right). Photo credits: NCA / Shutterstock / Offset / Pat Aldridge Twitter

A BRITISH holidaymaker has told of his eight-day ordeal in a Spanish jail after being ­mistaken for an escaped convict.
Eddie Gossage, 68,  from Merseyside has revealed how he was handcuffed in his Magaluf hotel room in Mallorca and then thrown into a Palma prison cell when police mistakenly thought he was British fugitive Michael David Phillips.
Mr Gossage was first questioned alongside his wife, Brenda, by border patrol guards at Palma airport on the Balearic island.
The pair were then able to leave the airport and continued to their hotel in Magaluf.
However, police later arrived at Mr Gossage’s hotel room, ordering him to ‘get dressed’ before handcuffing and hauling the 68-year-old holidaymaker to jail.
He was unaware that his identity had been stolen by the 63-year-old escaped convict, Michael David Phillips, and was being used as an alias by the convicted drug lord.
Mr Gossage said Spanish police officers photographed and fingerprinted him and was told he was on Interpol’s most wanted list.
He denied the allegations he was the escaped convict, Michael David Phillips, in court the following day saying: “No, I’m Edward Gossage.’”
Mr Gossage’s daughters, Amanda and Jenny, flew out to join their distraught mother during the ordeal and were only able to see their incarcerated father through a glass partition.
After eight days behind bars the British holidaymaker was released when the National Crime Agency (NCA), the body which issued the European arrest warrant for Phillips’ capture, was alerted to Mr Gossage’s dubious arrest by the British consulate.
Mr Gossage claims he has suffered from traumatic flashbacks since returning home to Kirkby on Merseyside.
The NCA said Mr Gossage’s wrongful arrest was the fault of Spanish police.
Meanwhile, Michael David Phillips remains a fugitive on Interpol’s most wanted list.

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