A member of the Spanish Civil Guard in the Canary Islands has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for abuse of power when he arrested his lover's husband after the scorned spouse insulted him.
According to newspaper El Diario Montanes, the police officer Erik S.L. was out on patrol in June 2009 when he passed by the offices where the husband of his lover worked in Arguineguín.
When the husband saw the officer in the street, the cuckolded spouse blurted out: "You are the son of a bitch who has been screwing my wife."
When the Civil Guard heard this, he reportedly stopped his car and "despite having perfect knowledge of the man's identity", he demanded to see the husband's identity card. When the man refused, Erik proceeded to arrest him and drive him to the police station with the intent to "identify him".
The officer then kept the man in police custody for an hour, but falsified the report, stating that he had held the man for only ten minutes.
The court sentence states that because the locality where the events took place was so small, there was no doubt that the officer "knew perfectly well who had insulted him". Therefore, the judges said that there was no need to identify him.
The judges ruled that the officer committed a crime of coercion and that he used his position of authority to intimidate and impede the "fundamental right" of freedom of movement while arrested.
The officer has also been suspended from his position.
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