Whatever happened to... the family of Andrew Lewin who died in a car in Spain?
Andrew Lewin, shortly before he died in Spain
Monday 17th September 2007
Imagine losing your son but not knowing how he'd died. Imagine spending every second desperate to find out what really happened to him. Unless you've been there you cannot begin to understand what it's like. But believe me, I know all too well.
Because I've spent the last decade searching for the truth. Ten years ago, my son Andrew, 18, died on holiday in Marbella, Spain. ALCOHOL KILLED TEENAGER said the headlines. My wife Elizabeth and I were led to believe that he'd drunk himself to death, but it just didn't add up. Don't get me wrong. I knew Andrew liked to have a pint, but he wasn't someone who'd drink himself to death.
Back in July 1997, Andrew had just finished his A' levels at college in Cambridge and was waiting for the results. He'd worked so hard that me and his mum, Elizabeth, 51, were happy for him to spend two weeks in Marbella with his old school mates Courtney Kayne, and Stephen Mitchell, both of whom were 18.
We heard nothing until three days later on the 29th July when the phone rang at lunchtime.
'My name's Marc Burca, I'm the owner of El Madronel tennis club in Marbella' a man's voice said. 'I'm very sorry to tell you this but your son Andrew is dead.'
I froze. Andrew? Dead? There had to be some mistake.
'He was found dead in a parked rental car this morning,' he said.
The adrenaline kicked in. I jumped in the car and drove to the local golf course where Elizabeth was playing. That night was a blur. We cried. We talked. And more than anything, we wanted to know how and why Andrew had died.
Next morning we flew straight to Marbella and went to Marc Burca's home. Courtney and Stephen were there.
'What happened boys?' I asked.
Marc told us that the boys had been drinking at Exotis nightclub in the resort and according to Courtney, Andrew had downed tequila shots. Steven had left early but Courtney and Andrew had stayed on.
Courtney had driven them back to their room at the tennis club in their rented car and when they got back at 8.45 the next morning, Andrew was unconscious in the passenger seat. Courtney couldn't wake him so he'd left him in the car to sleep it off.
'By lunchtime he'd died,' Marc said.
'No!' I shouted. 'Our son couldn't have drunk himself to death.'
We were both convinced there was more to it.
So we went to see the two-door Peugeot where they'd found Andrew. It was parked 20 feet from the entrance to the apartment and by now it was 1pm and the heat was unbearable.
'It must have been boiling in that car,' Elizabeth said.
'The heat must have had something to do with his death,' I replied.
We signed papers to release Andrew's body and were told by Spanish officials that a post mortem confirmed that Andrew had died from a heart attack possibly related to excessive alcohol consumption. There was no mention of the blistering heat.
Back home in Britain, another post mortem was carried out but this one came back inconclusive. So when we held Andrew's funeral, two weeks later, we still didn't know why he'd died.
Afterwards, I applied to see the autopsy papers from the Spanish authorities and fired off letter after letter to the Spanish police. 'Please release the results of your investigation,' I begged.
But the papers I needed were made secret by the court and were property of the coroner.
Then in March 1998, nearly a year after Andrew's death, a police officer from Hertfordshire Police, who'd been liasing with Spanish police came round.
'The level of alcohol in Andrew's blood was 200 micro grams,' he said.
'What does that mean?' Elizabeth asked.
'Andrew had drunk the equivalent of five pints at the most,' he replied.
'So Andrew hadn't died of excessive alcohol consumption,' I said.
Now we had a different truth to seek – what had killed our son? I thought back to the car, that intense heat.
'I think Courtney could've done more to help Andrew,' I said.
The CPS had already decided not to prosecute Courtney Kayne for manslaughter but I decided to challenge their decision.
It meant mountains of paper work and hours of phone calls but for four long years I stuck at it. And in May 2002 we went to the High Court in London. I listened in horror as the judge said that the heat exposure was irrelevant unless it could be proved that Andrew was alive when the car was parked. They wouldn't be prosecuting Courtney.
We'd lost our challenge and were landed with a legal bill of over £30,000. Elizabeth was devastated. But to me, it was just another obstacle to overcome.
The stress of the past five years had already taken its toll. Elizabeth had never been the same since Andrew's death and in November 2005 the GP referred her to Papworth Hospital for tests. Three days later we sat in the specialists office and he dealt our family another blow.
'You've got a fatal brain tumour,' he said.
Elizabeth's eyes brimmed with tears and my mouth went dry.
'How long?' I heard myself mutter.
'Three months,' he said.
I'd already lost my son. Now my wife too?
And the speed at which Elizabeth deteriorated was unbelievable. A few short months later, Elizabeth died at home, with me at her side.
Finally, in July 2007, 10 years after Andrew had died, the British inquest into Andrew's death was finally heard at Hatfield Coroners Court. Courtney Kayne wasn't there but his statement was read out.
Kayne repeated the claim that Andrew had downed tequila. But a till receipt from the club that night showed that they had only sold 9. And Andrew couldn't have had more than two.
After three days the jury gave it's verdict. Andrew died from heat stroke, made worse by alcohol intoxication after he'd been left in the car. It had reached up to 50 degrees centigrade in that car. He would have suffered multiple organ failure.
It was what we'd known all along. If Courtney had come to me after this tragedy and said sorry for leaving Andrew in the car or at least explained why, I'd have forgiven him. But now all I'm just left with is regrets. It's not about blame. It's about taking responsibility. Nothing will ever bring Andrew back, but at long last I know the truth.
Every week, Pick Me Up revisits someone who made the headlines in the past. Check out our other fascinating go-backs:
Whatever happened to... Karen Ross whose daughter Rosie was stabbed to death?
Whatever happened to 7/7 survivor Rachel North?