The Public Prosecutor's Office has closed the investigation into the death of a recidivist burglar in September 2015. Paulo Brito died after breaking in to Trevor and Jill Taylor’s Vilamoura property in 2015, being tackled by Trevor and his son Scott, and being held in a neck-lock until the GNR showed up.
The prosecutor "concludes that the death was by asphyxiation caused by two British household dwellers, father and son, but that both acted in self-defence", reads a note on the website of the Faro District Attorney's Office.
The incident at the Taylors’ Volta do Pardal property occurred in September 2015, when the couple, in their 50s, and their 20-year-old son surprised a man inside their villa and were able to immobilise him in an neck-lock.
The prosecutor concluded that, "even if there was excessive force, it had resulted from confusion or fear and is not censurable."
The Prosecutor's Office said the evidence clearly indicates the person entered the Taylors’ villa at 04:00 to steal, but the family woke up due to the noise.
The intruder, originally from Cape Verde, already had valuables and the key to the family car, a Jaguar, in a holdall and was described by the Taylors as “very strong.”
Brito, from nearby Quarteira, had served eight years for violent robberies and had been released from prison less than a year ago and was on parole.
The prosecutor added, "When the burglar was surprised, first by the mistress of the house and then by the father and the son, who heard her screams, the individual attacked them and did not stop attacking them even after being grabbed. The father and son immobilised him and held him around the neck until the GNR arrived."
The GNR said that Brito was alive when they arrived at the house, but when they started to put handcuffs on him, he fainted and later died.
The deceased was well known to the local police and was found to have burgled the house next door before moving on to the Taylors’ property - with fatal consequences.
It's not over yet for the Taylors as the decision only protects them from a possible manslaughter conviction under Portuguese law but Brito's family is calling for them to be tried. An investigating judge will have the final say.
Trevor Taylor
Paulo Brito