'My 19-year-old son was buried without his heart'

A grieving Merseyside mum whose son was buried without his heart following his death in Tenerife has said she feels like the Spanish authorities "stole" it.

Harry Begg, from Kirkby, died as a result of catastrophic head injuries sustained in an allegedly targeted hit-and-run attack on 1 December.

Nicola Gardner said she was told the local authorities would be keeping his heart just hours before his funeral in the Anfield area of Liverpool on 6 January.

"They've stolen his heart," said the 50-year-old. "It was the biggest part of him and it's stuck in a fridge in Tenerife."

The Spanish Civil Guard has been contacted for comment by the BBC.

Nicola described Harry as "the kindest, most loving, sensitive person you could meet in your life. If he loved you, he loved you with everything.

"I just can't get my head around why it's there, how could they be so inhumane. That's my baby, do they not have families?"

Harry was travelling on an electric bike in Arona - where he had been living for 18 months - when he was struck by a driver who failed to stop.

Nicola said she had to apply for an emergency passport and pay £5,000 - which she had to borrow - to get Harry's body brought back to the UK.

She said it was more than a week before she was able to see Harry after his death, and his body was repatriated until New Year's Eve.

Harry was buried two days after his funeral mass due to issues obtaining paperwork from the Spanish authorities.

Nicola said the Spanish coroner then rang her the day before Harry's funeral to inform her they still had his heart.

When she became upset, the coroner is said to have suggested they end the call.

Nicola said the official indicated she would call back once she had "calmed down".

"They still haven't rang me back," said Nicola.

She said: "There was no peace for me at the funeral -the biggest piece of him was still in Tenerife."

Nicola said she was determined to not only get her son's heart flown home, but to help ensure no other family has to go through the ordeal she has faced.

"The only thing that keeps me putting one foot in front of the other is the anger," she said.

"I can't grieve like I should, I can't cry for my son. I can't even look at a picture of him because it makes my head explode with anger.

"They stole my son's heart. Where's the humanity? It's unforgivable. How many other families has this happened to and they don't even know?"

Nicola, who lives in the Kensington area of Liverpool, said a murder investigation was launched into Harry's death by Spanish police, who referred to the case as a "criminal death".

She said a Spanish investigator had told her Harry's heart was "being preserved pending further testing as the investigation progresses, given that it was a criminal death".

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