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Spanish family seeks canonisation of London attack ‘skateboard hero’

Five years after the London Bridge attack that left eight dead, the family of a Spaniard who died defending a woman with his skateboard are seeking his canonisation, his father told AFP Friday.

Ignacio Echeverria's parents
Ignacio Echeverria's parents, pose with a George Medal, which was awarded to their son. Photo: Kirsty O'Connor / POOL / AFP

Ignacio Echeverria, a 39-year-old financial expert from Madrid, was at the scene on June 3rd, 2017 when three men rammed passers-by in a van before going on a stabbing spree in the nearby Borough Market area.

He rushed to help a woman who was being attacked, hitting the assailant with his skateboard but was himself fatally stabbed. Hailing his bravery, the British press named him “the skateboard hero”.

Speaking to AFP by phone, his father Joaquin Echeverria said the family was hoping to have him recognised as a saint by the Catholic Church.

The family was gathering all the information about his case which would be presented to the Church so it could examine whether “to proceed with his possible canonisation”, he said.

The idea was first raised by Madrid’s auxiliary bishop Juan Antonio Martinez Camino after holding a mass to mark the first anniversary of Echeverria’s death, pointing to the Church’s new stance on canonisation for someone who “voluntarily offers” their life for another.

Although his father knows the process may be very long and that they will also need to show that his son performed a miracle, he believes there’s “a chance they will consider canonising him” because of the “generosity he showed in death” and his “exemplary life”.

He was “a devout person” who actively participated in the Catholic community, made donations and “used to give Catholic education classes at a parish” in London, he said.

“It makes us happy to think that Ignacio’s death made an impact and served some purpose,” he said.

In Spain, Ignacio Echeverria’s bravery has been recognised in several ways with the late banker posthumously awarded the Great Cross of the Order of Civil Merit for “extraordinary services” and several skate parks in Madrid named after him.

And there has even been a “Skate Hero” musical written in his honour tha documents the last 24 hours of his life before the attacks.

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CRIME

Top Spanish court rules kiss without consent is sexual assault

Spain's Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a kiss without "tacit consent" can be considered sexual assault, just months before former football federation chief Luis Rubiales will stand trial over his unsolicited kiss at the Women's World Cup.

Top Spanish court rules kiss without consent is sexual assault

The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling from the southern region of Andalusia which convicted a police officer of sexual assault and sentenced him to one year and nine months in jail for kissing a woman on the cheek who was in police custody.

“A ‘stolen kiss’, and thus without express or implied consent, constitutes sexual assault in actuality,” the court said, adding that “it is clear that the fleeting contact of a non-consensual kiss represents a bodily invasion”.

“A ‘no’ from the victim is not necessary in the face of attempts to kiss a woman, but rather that for there not to be a crime, what is needed is consent. The key is consent, to the point that if consent has not been given, there has been sexual aggression.”

The issue of whether an unsolicited kiss can be considered sexual assault is a hot topic in Spain since Rubiales provoked worldwide outrage by kissing star player Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the medal ceremony after Spain beat England to win the World Cup in Australia last year.

At the time, Rubiales, 46, brushed it off as “a consensual” peck on the lips, but Hermoso, 34, said it was not.

She filed a lawsuit against Rubiales in September, telling the judge she had come under pressure to defend him both on the flight back from Australia and on a subsequent team holiday to Ibiza in the Balearic Islands.

Rubiales is set to stand trial from February 3 to 19 over the kiss. Public prosecutors have requested a sentence of two-and-a-half years in prison for Rubiales – one year for sexual assault and 18 months for coercion.

The former federation chief, who quit his post last year in the wake of the controversy, told private Spanish television station La Sexta in April that he could not understand how it could be labelled as sexual assault, saying there was “no sexual context” to it.

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