Teen's 'overdose' may be a cover-up

His death was passed off as another example of irresponsible young Britons drinking themselves to death on a "lads' holiday"- the 17-year-old boy who fell 6m down the stairs of a nightclub in the popular beach resort of Laganas, on the Greek island of Zante, after drinking a concoction of spirits known locally as a "bomb".

On Greek television, reports about the death of Matthew Cryer were illustrated with clips of intoxicated British tourists having sex on the island's beaches. "The youngster apparently choked and suffered cardiac arrest from excessive intake of alcohol," a local police spokesman said at the time.

But a very different story about the circumstances of the teenager's death is now emerging. Greek prosecutors have been forced to review the police investigation after a coroner in the UK ruled that the teenager, who died outside the town's Cocktails and Dreams nightclub on July 21, 2008, had been unlawfully killed.

Matthew's parents claim that the true cause of his death was covered up to protect the island's tourism industry, and have led a passionate campaign calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

A spokeswoman for Derbyshire Constabulary said the force was in the process of handing their Greek counterparts hundreds of pages of evidence, compiled from information gathered during the coroner's inquest as well as interviews with the teenager's family and friends, which suggests he was physically assaulted.

Matthew, an engineering student from Killamarsh near Sheffield, had flown to Laganas to celebrate his friend's 18th birthday.

He was part of a group of four teenage friends and two adults, on his first holiday without his family, but on their first night out in the resort he became separated from the party.

He was found lying on the street outside. The UK autopsy revealed that Matthew had suffered 20 injuries, including severe head injuries and bruising. Witnesses at the inquest said they had seen the club's bouncers push him down the stairs, before punching him and kicking him in the head as he lay prone on the ground.

The inquest also heard that Greek police officers had failed to act as the teenager lay dying, and did not take witness statements because they were intimidated by the bouncers. His mother said she had been hurt by the way her son's death was reported.

"I couldn't sit back and give up, because I'd feel like I'd let him down."

- INDEPENDENT