A British family has issued a desperate appeal for justice after a father was fatally attacked on a holiday in Benidorm, and nearly six years on, they are still waiting for answers.
Mike Rydings, a 47-year-old builder from Wythenshawe, Manchester, was on a celebratory “lads trip” to the popular Spanish resort in June 2018 when he became the victim of a violent, unprovoked assault. What followed was a heartbreaking ordeal that ended in Mike’s death, and the continued mystery of who attacked him.
In the early hours of June 23, after watching the World Cup with friends at the Hippodrome Bar on Benidorm’s bustling Avenue de Mallorca, Mike was separated from his group and became involved in a dispute with a group of five or six unknown men.
Witnesses later said he was seen backing away with his hands in the air before being punched in the face.
The blow broke his nose and sent him crashing to the ground, where he struck his head and suffered catastrophic injuries.
Mike was rushed to hospital in Alicante, where he remained unconscious for a month, sustained by life support. His daughter Hayley, who was pregnant at the time, and his sister Nicola, flew out to be by his side.
He was later flown back to Salford Royal Hospital, where he remained in a vegetative state for over a year — unable to move, speak, or breathe unaided, until his death in August 2019 at the age of 48.
Despite investigations by both Spanish authorities and Greater Manchester Police, no arrests have ever been made. His attacker has never been identified.
Speaking on what would have been her father’s 54th birthday, Hayley told the Manchester Evening News: “You can’t ever really move on, because you don’t have any answers… it’s been years and we haven’t been told anything.”
Greater Manchester Police interviewed over 15 British holidaymakers, and the suspect was described as a white man in his 20s or 30s, of larger build, and possibly wearing camouflage clothing. But the case remains open and unresolved in Spain.
Hayley said the Spanish police initially treated the incident as “just another drunk Brit starting a fight,” adding: “But my dad was not a violent person.
“We want to get this out there again, to see if anyone can remember anything or will speak out.”
Mike had been wearing a red Hugo Boss t-shirt on the night of the attack. He was last seen outside the Hippodrome Bar in Benidorm Square shortly before the fight broke out.
The long wait for justice has left his family in limbo. Hayley described the pain of watching her father slowly fade away: “It was like we’d already lost him… He was always out and about and active. To see him like that, it just wasn’t him.”
“He never got to hold my daughter, and he never met his grandson.”
Mike’s family is now pleading for anyone who was in Benidorm in June 2018, particularly around the Hippodrome Bar, to come forward if they remember anything, no matter how small.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Greater Manchester Police or Crimestoppers anonymously.
