More than a dozen British tourists have appeared in court on a Greek holiday island after a mass brawl in which one Briton was pinned down and stabbed to death 'execution-style'.
The youths were taken to stand before the prosecutor on Crete today following the death of 19-year-old Tyrell Matthews-Burton, from Leyton, east London, who was stabbed through the heart.
Police have questioned one British tourist, also 19, on suspicion of fatally stabbing Mr Matthews-Burton, and have detained 14 others after the incident which occurred in the early hours of yesterday.
Today relatives of those arrested said Greek police had simply rounded up everyone who had visited the club that night, irrespective of whether they had been involved or even there at the time of the brawl.
The mother of one of the Britons arrested told MailOnline: 'In those clubs you need ID to get in, so the police simply went around all the hotels arresting everyone who had been there that night, including my son.
'My son didn't know the man who died, and wasn't there when it happened - he had left earlier with some girls. But they arrested him and put him in handcuffs to take him to court.'
Several of the young men arrested rang their families to tell them they were asked to appear before the court one by one so that a lawyer could decide if they were to be charged or not.
One mother said: 'My son was privately-educated and he is a stockbroker. He had nothing do with it but has been arrested anyway. The police just rounded everyone up.'
A friend of one of the young men who had blood on his shirt said he was a friend of Mr Matthews-Burton, who had tried to help the teenager after he was fatally injured.
He said: 'He and Tyrell were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was nothing to do with gangs - they had just gone on holiday with a group of five friends and it was just bad luck.'
An ambulance was called to the brawl outside the closed bar in the popular town of Malia, which is known for its wild nightlife, but the young man is believed to have died on his way to hospital.
Today Greek coroner Manolis Michalodimitrakis said: 'There were two stab wounds, to the back and to the chest.
'He was clearly pinned down and killed execution style - there were no defence wounds.
'The knife punctured his lung and heart. He lost almost half of his blood.'
Harry Nye, 18, from Kent, said he witnessed the fight, which is understood to have taken place outside the Safari Club in the resort.
He told the Daily Mirror: 'We saw one guy having his head stamped on and this other lad just fell straight. I've never seen that much blood.'
A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: 'We can confirm the death of a British national in Malia, Greece on 23 July.
He added: 'We are aware of the arrests of a number of British nationals in Malia, Crete, on July 23.
'We are in touch with the local authorities and stand ready to provide consular assistance.'
Authorities on the island which is popular with young British tourists on a budget said a post-mortem would be conducted on Crete before the body was repatriated.
Mourners took to Twitter to post tributes to the young man who died.
Chardae Denelle posted: 'R.I.P Tyrell. My prayers are with your family right now and to all the boys who are still out in Malia.'
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