GORDON BROWN has told his Spanish counterpart that Britain wants the body of a murdered Liverpool builder returned to Merseyside.
The Foreign Office has confirmed the Prime Minister raised the case of Gary Dunne with Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Mr Dunne, 22, was stabbed to death by machete-wielding Victor Posse Navas, in March, 2006. But Spanish authorities are refusing to allow his body to be returned to the UK.
It is thought Mr Brown made the plea when the pair met following a gathering of the Council of Europe.
Gary’s father, Stephen, said the family was now at their “most optimistic”.
Mr Dunne, 52, said last night: “Gordon Brown remembered Gary’s name and went over to Jose Zapatero after a meeting and said ‘there’s one of our lads over there and we want him back’.
“We’re delighted. We’re scared of building our hopes up really because each time we do that we get kicked in the teeth. But we’re hoping to get Gary back in the New Year.”
Mr Dunne and his wife, Lesley, were told in June their son, who lived in West Derby, could not be repatriated because of Spanish health and safety laws.
Under the legislation, his body would have to stay in Spain for four years or be cremated and his ashes returned home. But that would deny Mr and Mrs Dunne the family funeral they are hoping for. Gary remains in a concrete box in the Costa Del Sol resort of Benalmadena.
The Dunne family presented a 50,000-signature petition to Mr Brown in July outlining the issue.
Navas was jailed for nine years by Malaga High Court last month after pleading guilty to murdering Gary.
North West Euro MP Arlene McCarthy met with advisors at Number 10 this week who told her of the top-level activity in the case.
She said: “We are having a good, positive conversation with the Spanish in which they are saying they will do everything that they can for the family.
“They understand that this family’s son has been brutally murdered and they have a right to have their son back and to give him a dignified burial. They understand that completely and they will try to get that outcome.”
Family lawyer Rex Makin added: “We’re thinking this is a nudge forward. It’s been so slow and we can’t take anything for granted. The Government seem to be doing something positive to assist.”
Mr Makin said he was in talks with a Spanish lawyer over the details of Navas’s conviction. He said they were looking into pursuing the killer for both the costs of repatriating the body and for compensation.
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