Mike Ryding’s family remain certain that there are witnesses who have remained silent and protected his attacker from being identified

It’s been almost six years since Mike Rydings tragically lost his life. He had spent a year in intensive care with catastrophic injuries, with his family firmly by his side, having been the victim of a horrific attack while on a holiday with friends in Benidorm.

It was supposed to be a ‘lads trip of a lifetime’; an exciting holiday to the popular holiday resort with a group of friends to celebrate a birthday. But days of joyous fun ended in unthinkable disaster.

After flying out to the Spanish hotspot, Mike, described as a ‘proud’ man, was never able to speak or walk again before his life support was tragically switched off. Years on, his family remain certain that there are witnesses who have remained silent and protected his attacker from being identified.

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Then aged 47, the builder from Wythenshawe, had gone out on what he thought would be a fun night out like any other. Drinking and socialising with his friends at a bar and watching the 2018 World Cup with one another.

His group of 30 were on the Avenue de Mallorca strip when the Manchester United fan became separated from his friends, on June 22.

It was during the early hours of June 23, he was attacked. He had his nose broken and fell to the ground, hitting his head and sustaining horrific injuries. Investigations revealed he had been targeted by a member of a group of five or six other men.

He spent a month unconscious in hospital, with his then-pregnant daughter Hayley and sister Nicola flying out to be with him by his side as he lay hooked up to ventilator machines. He was unable to move or speak and could only communicate through blinking.

After being repatriated to Salford Royal Hospital, Mike spent the remaining year of his life unable to move or speak, in a vegetative state and needing around the clock care. He tragically died in August of 2019. He was just 48.

Now almost six years after his life-support was switched off, and meticulous police investigations, nobody has been brought to justice. But his daughter Hayley, who has since given birth to another child her dad never got to meet, remains certain that witnesses and people with his attacker, have callously remained silent.

The attack happened in an area popular with tourists. Bars were busy with drinkers watching the world cup and enjoying a night out.

“I thought over time, someone would speak out about what they know,” she said. “People must have seen something.

“I don’t know how someone could live with that, knowing what happened?”

Police followed up a number of leads, and believed at the time that someone from the Merseyside area may have known what had happened with Mike’s altercation with the unknown group of men.

There were extensive investigations within Greater Manchester Police, but despite this, his killer has never been traced. No witness accounts or police enquiries have ever brought his attacker to justice. Detectives interviewed over 15 English holidaymakers who were there on the night of the attack.

There was equally an investigation by the Spanish police which concluded without anyone being prosecuted.

Speaking on what would have been his 54th birthday earlier this month, Mike’s daughter Hayley said the family has spent years in the dark and ‘unable to have closure without answers’ as they issued another desperate appeal for information.

“You can’t ever really move on, because you don’t have any answers,” Hayley told the Manchester Evening News. “It’s been years and we haven’t been told anything.

“At the time, there were so many different witness stories. At one point we were told it was a stag party and someone in camouflage clothing. Then we were told it was a bouncer.

“One stated that, the night he was attacked, my dad had a drink and was seen backing off with his hands in the air when he was punched to the nose, which broke, and then he fell backwards onto his head.

“They said they have never been able to get the sound of him hitting the ground out of their head.

“It was like the Spanish police just thought a British man had gone over, got p***ed and started a fight. 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.”

Detectives established that the man suspected of assaulting Mike was described as a white man aged in his 20s or 30s, with a larger than average build, 5ft 7ins to 6ft tall, who was possibly wearing camouflage clothing.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed there had been no updates in the case, which remains in the hands of Spanish authorities.

Anyone who may have information or remember anything that may resonate from a trip to Benidorm in the summer of 2018 is still urged to contact police with any details they may have.

Mike had been wearing a red Hugo boss t-shirt on the night in question and was outside the Hippodrome bar in Benidorm Square when a fight broke out with a group of five or six men.

Hayley, 36, added: “My dad’s partner at the time got the call from one of his friends to tell her what had happened. When you hear that, you still never think it will be as bad as what we walked into.

“When I first saw him in the hospital and he was lying there with tubes everywhere it was so painful I had to walk back out.

“I was pregnant with one of my daughters, and I flew out the next day with my partner. Between me and Nicola his sister we kept going back and forth to make sure he was never on his own.

“It was so hard on us all. I had a young child at the time too, so it was really difficult.”

Anyone with information should contact our Major Incident Team on 0161 856 6777 quoting Operation Thurston. Details can be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.