Neighbour and Mayor of Dolores Fined After Altercation

The Orihuela Magistrate's Court No. 1 has issued a ruling condemning the Mayor of Dolores, Joaquín Hernández (PSOE), and a local resident, José María Argilés, for minor injuries following an altercation that occurred last summer in the square. The judge has imposed a fine on the mayor of €900, at a rate of €10 per day for three months. Additionally, he must compensate with €90 for civil liability.

Neighbour Argilés is fined the same daily amount, €10, but for a reduced duration of two months, totalling €600. Following this ruling, the mayor has already filed an appeal.

The incident dates back to August 9. According to the judge's ruling, at 5:35 PM, the neighbour, who was leaving a bar with friends, encountered the mayor, who was in the square by the railing talking to another man. Insults were exchanged, and they approached each other until they faced off.

At that moment, the judicial resolution adds, Argilés grabbed the mayor by the shirt, after which the mayor held him firmly by the wrists and shoulders, and both fell to the ground. According to the Local Police report, after getting up, the neighbour described it as a heated argument.

Upon noticing some abrasions on his arms, he argued that he bleeds easily due to a skin condition, as he had informed the police at the time. However, the ruling notes that Argilés presented with a contusion on the jaw and shoulder area.

The officers informed both parties of the possibility of filing a complaint, which both the mayor and the neighbour declined to do at that time. However, both later filed complaints.

Hernández, in statements to 'La Verdad', part of the same editorial group as TodoAlicante (Vocento), recounts how he has been subjected to threats, serious insults, and disparagements by the neighbour for years. According to the mayor and witness statements, the neighbour allegedly insulted him by calling him a "scoundrel", "fraudster", and "you're more of a fraudster than your father", who is deceased and was also the mayor of Dolores.

Hernández claims he should have reported it much earlier. He explains that he hadn't done so to avoid conflict. On the day of the altercation, Hernández adds, "all I did was defend myself, simply trying to get him to let go, and we both fell."

On the other hand, the neighbour maintains that it was the mayor who lunged, as he stated and his testimony reflects. The judge argues that these two positions cannot clarify any witness statements "as they hold diametrically opposed versions, depending on their friendship with the parties."

Therefore, the judge notes that the versions are contradictory, both from the protagonists and the witnesses. The ruling concludes that after evaluating the statements of the parties and witnesses, it is determined that both confronted each other, with Argilés grabbing Hernández by the shirt and "the latter holding him by the wrists and arms, not defensively but with force and violence. It was precisely this force that caused both to fall to the ground, with the neighbour's companions and other witnesses immediately intervening to separate them, thus ending the dispute."

The mayor also points to the Popular Party, accusing them of trying to use this situation to discredit him.