The main suspect in the death of Carlo Heuvelman, who died when attacked by a group of youngsters during a night out on Majorca in the summer of 2021, has been acquitted by appeal court judges.

Sanil B was sentenced to seven years in jail by lower court judges in 2022. Both he and the public prosecution department, which had called for a 10 year jail term, had appealed.

The court in Leeuwarden said on Thursday there is not enough legal or convincing evidence to find B guilty of manslaughter. He was, however, found guilty of a violent attack on two other men in the brawl outside the bar, and jailed for 32 months, three suspended.

Two other suspects linked to the case, Mees T and Hein B, were also acquitted of attempting to kill Heuvelman but were found guilty of using violence and jailed for 14 and 15 months respectively.

Four others involved in the fighting were given shorter jail terms or community service.

The court ruled that at least one other perpetrator was involved in the manslaughter of Heuvelman but that there was insufficient proof to ascertain who that is and which of the attackers dealt the fatal blow.

Witnesses said at the time that Heuvelman had been attacked by several young men, fell to the ground and was then kicked in the head more than once. None of the suspects ever talked about their role in the attack, and the area was not covered by security cameras.

Heuvelman, 27, died after being kicked repeatedly in the head during a brawl which broke out in July 2021 over a bar stool. He fell into a coma and died later in hospital.

The case was moved to the Netherlands at the request of the Spanish authorities because the victim and all the defendants were Dutch.