Briton jailed for 25 years for tourist murder in Croatia

ZAGREB: A British man was sentenced to 25 years in jail by a Croatian court on Thursday for stabbing to death a fellow tourist outside a nightclub two years ago.

Douglas Cane, 27, was found guilty of murdering fellow Briton Ugo Wilson and attempting to kill two other compatriots during a brawl, said the court in the coastal town of Zadar. The fight erupted in June 2018 outside a nightclub on a beach on the island of Pag.

The northern island, notably the town of Novalja and Zrce beach, is popular for its clubbing and electronic music scene.

Video surveillance footage of the crime scene "undoubtedly shows" that just a few seconds after Wilson, 26, came out of the night club, the defendant jumped and stabbed him in the chest, the court said in the ruling. He then attacked another two Britons, both in their 20s, one of whom suffered serious wounds.

Cane tried to flee Croatia, which the court found an aggravating circumstance. But he was arrested the next day at the airport in Split, on the central coast. The court did not elaborate on the motives of the crime but said Cane "acted with intent".

The defendant has a criminal record in Britain with convictions in cases including drug abuse and sale of stolen goods, it said. Cane’s defence attorneys said they would appeal against the verdict. Tourism is a pillar of Croatia’s economy, with visitors flocking to hundreds of islands and islets along its stunning Adriatic coast. Last year the country of 4.2 million people welcomed about 20 million tourists. They included 850,000 from Britain.