Remember her name

THE family of five-year-old Leire, mown down by a drunk driver in Roquetas, asked people to call her by her name.

“Don’t remember her as the girl they killed outside Mercadona, call her Leire, give her a face,” her father declared to a Telecinco interviewer.

The driver, a soldier from the Legion stationed in Viator driving with a Cuba Libre in the passenger seat, was later charged and released.

In  Roquetas, residents took to the streets to protest, although Leire’s family asked them to respect the decision while admitting they were surprised.

“I don’t blame the judge, I understand that the law is the law,” said Deborah, Leire’s aunt.

“He is doing his job and it will have cost him his life and soul to let that person go,” she said, pointing out that this was obvious from the statement from the judge assigned to the case.

“This judge perfectly understands the present moment, understands your pain, but there are no legal grounds for remanding the accused,” he wrote.

Leire’s father, David, also thanked the Legion, whose general and high-ranking officers have visited the family.

It was not the Legion’s fault that the driver who killed Leire was a soldier, Deborah said, although she hoped that her niece’s death might help to change the law.