Brit 'with no driving licence' arrested over death of cyclist in Ibiza

Pictured: British businessman ‘with no driving licence’ arrested over hit-and-run death of a cyclist in Ibiza is named ahead of court appearance today after handing himself over to the police

• Scott Devenney, 35, is due to appear in court later over the hit-and-run incident
• He handed himself into police on Wednesday night, roughly 24 hours after crash
• Cyclist Bernat Ribas, 49, was pronounced dead at the crash scene on Tuesday

A British businessman arrested on suspicion of killing a cyclist in an Ibiza hit-and-run accident while driving without a licence has been identified. 

Scott Devenney, 35, is due to appear in court later today after spending two nights in a police cell.

Scott Devenney was arrested on suspicion of killing a cyclist in a hit-and-run accident

The Glasgow-born expat, co-founder of an organic restaurant called Down to Earth in his home city’s West End area, handed himself into cops on the Spanish holiday island hours after they found his Jeep Wrangler with British plates abandoned around three miles from the crash scene on Wednesday afternoon.

Local amateur sports enthusiast Bernat Ribas, 49, was pronounced dead shortly after being hit on a country road by the oncoming vehicle Mr Devenney is believed to have been driving.

His death has caused a wave of anger in Ibiza, where six years ago 24-year-old cyclist Dani Vinals was knocked down and killed by a hit-and-run driver high on drink and drugs who was subsequently sentenced to just four years in prison.

Devenney is pictured in a Jeep Wrangler believed to be involved in the crash

The victim has been named as 49-year-old Bernat Ribas

Ribas was a well-known local sports enthusiast who had taken part in many cycling competitions over the years

One of the photos Mr Devenney posted on his social media before Tuesday’s accident showed him smiling from the wheel of the vehicle he is suspected of being in when he allegedly mowed down Mr Ribas, whose funeral later today is expected to be attended by hundreds of family, friends and well-wishers including his devastated partner and three siblings.

In a more recent post the British expat, who was educated at Uddingston Grammar School in Glasgow, was filmed teaching yoga bare-chested in a pair of black shorts at an Ibiza beauty spot overlooking the Mediterranean to a large mostly-female group of beginners.

Spanish police described him as an Ibiza resident in a statement released after his arrest. They didn’t name him in the statement and described him only as a 35-year-old British national.

They also claimed he had been driving without a licence. 

Well-travelled Mr Devenney, who has restaurant-related business interests in Ibiza as well as Scotland, has reportedly told police through a lawyer he lost it ‘some time ago.’

Police sources confirmed he wasn’t breath-tested because the accident had happened more than 24 hours before his arrest but he tested negative for drugs.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard said following the arrest: ‘The Civil Guard has arrested a British man aged 35 as the suspected author of the crimes of manslaughter, abandoning the scene of an incident, reckless driving and driving without ever having obtained the relevant authorisation to do so.

‘After the accident allegedly caused by the detainee, he fled the scene.

‘The Civil Guard spent all day Wednesday trying to locate him and the vehicle, which was found in an isolated area of the municipality of Sant Josep.

‘Around 11pm on Wednesday the suspect handed himself in to police at a station in San Antonio where he was read his rights and taken to another police station.’

The vehicle involved in Tuesday evening’s accident, a black Jeep Wrangler, was found abandoned about three miles from the scene

Hundreds are expected to turn out for the funeral of Ribas later today 

The driver of the car impounded by police and analysed by forensic experts for DNA and other evidence is understood to have collided head-on with Mr Ribas around 8pm on Tuesday on a narrow road called the Camino de Benimussa in the municipality of Sant Josep before hitting a rock as he fled the scene.

The cyclist was with a friend who is thought to have given police a description of the vehicle along with a second motorist travelling behind the two men who is also said to have been struck but escaped uninjured.

The Jeep, a right-wheel drive, was found by an ecology and education centre near the scene of the tragedy following a police appeal for information.

Sources close to the investigation said initially they believed the Jeep driver had been travelling with a female passenger but that has not yet been confirmed.

As part of the investigation, detectives have been trying to piece together what the suspect did following the accident and are understood to have spoken to some of his friends to try to find out where he had been.

One of the dead man’s pals wrote in a social media tribute revealing he had been with him hours before the accident: ‘How do you assimilate the fact you have a coffee with a friend in the morning and in the afternoon you find out he’s been run over and those responsible have fled the scene.

‘I still can’t get it into my head.

‘Rest in peace Bernat Ribas and my condolences to the family.’

Bernat Ribas was a keen cyclist and participated in several races in Ibiza

Devenney handed himself into police a night after the crash took place

Romanie Sanchez added: ‘Today on my way to work along the Benimussa valley I have the sensation once again that any of us who are on a bike could have become Bernat Ribas on Tuesday.

‘No rush to get anywhere is worth it. I thought people realised a car can be a dangerous object and kill easily.’

Members of Ibizan cycle and triathlon club Club Esportiu Master Team which Bernat was a member of, wrote in a message posted on social media before Mr Devenney’s arrest: ‘As you all know our friend and colleague Bernat Ribas has been knocked down and killed.

‘We have another star in the sky.

‘Our club would like to express the great pain we feel as Bernat was greatly loved by many people and we have been left devastated.’

They added: ‘We feel impotence at these situations which repeat themselves time and time again.’

Miquel Tur, a local delegate for the Balearic Islands Cycling Federation, said: ‘We feel great sadness over Bernat’s loss.

‘And we have to continue demanding that these things never happen again and no-one flees the scene of an accident which is absolutely deplorable.’

He added: ‘Bernat was very involved in sport on the island. He did cycling, athletics, duathlon and triathlon.

‘He was a very kind person who always had a smile on his face for everyone and was always in a good mood. His loss is irreparable.’

Today’s court hearing will take place behind closed doors as is normal in Spain. An investigating magistrate will have to decide whether to remand Mr Devenney to prison or release him on conditional bail pending an ongoing investigation which will take several months if not more to complete.

Formal charges are only laid in Spain shortly before trial. The suspect is set to be declared an ‘investigado’ – a person under investigation – following today’s hearing at a court in the Ibizan capital Ibiza Town.

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