Mum points heartbreaking plea for son killed in ‘hit and run’ as his coronary heart is held in Spain

Harry Begg, 19, died after he was allegedly hit by a car while on an electric bike in Tenerife on December 1. Now his mum Nicola has questioned the Spanish investigation into his death

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A mother is begging for her son not to be forgotten, over four months after he was tragically killed in Tenerife. Harry Begg, 19, lost his life in an alleged hit and run on the Spanish holiday island on December 1, 2025.

Just hours before his funeral in Anfield on January 6, mum Nicola Gardner was informed by Spanish authorities that Harry had been repatriated to the UK without his heart, which was being retained for further tests. Nicola, 50, from Kensington, revealed that a murder investigation into Harry’s death had been initiated by Spanish police.

Spanish investigators have reportedly described the case as a “criminal death”. No arrests have yet been made.

Nicola told the Liverpool Echo: “I don’t want Harry to be forgotten. I don’t want Harry to be brushed under the carpet.

“Harry wasn’t the type of person who could possibly be forgotten and I’m confident in that.” Harry, from Kirkby, was riding an electric bike in Arona in the south of the island when he was allegedly struck by a driver who failed to stop.

Harry sustained devastating head injuries and died at the scene, reports the Liverpool Echo. Roadside tributes were placed around a palm tree near the scene.

Flowers, candles and a Liverpool shirt were left, along with a note that read: “I love you forever wee bro”. Harry left Liverpool for Tenerife 18 months prior to his death.

His body was brought back more than three weeks after he passed away, Nicola revealed. The coroner’s office for Liverpool and Wirral was informed about Harry’s death on New Year’s Eve, 30 days following the incident.

Harry’s funeral was held at All Saint’s Church in Anfield. He was laid to rest at Anfield Cemetery two days afterwards due to difficulties securing documentation from Spanish authorities, Nicola explained.

Nicola said: “I need to know why the Spanish coroner had Harry for over three weeks before he came over, and why they have his heart. It was a head injury.

“If they’d kept his brain, I could understand, but they’ve kept his heart.” In a message viewed by the ECHO in January, a Spanish investigator informed Nicola that Harry’s heart “is being preserved pending further testing as the investigation progresses, given that it was a criminal death”.

They added: “Regarding the investigation, we continue to analyse information daily, as we do every day.” Harry was the youngest of four boys.

He passed away weeks before his 20th birthday. His brothers, Thomas, 21, Ted, 25, and Nicholas, 27, are “devastated”.

Nicola said: “Thomas and Harry were like peas in a pod. You didn’t get one without the other. He’s broken.”

Speaking earlier to the ECHO, Nicola said: “Harry was caring, lovely, dead funny, and if he loved you, he loved you. He was dead clever and witty.

“He had an answer for everything.” Nicola hadn’t seen Harry since he departed for Tenerife 18 months earlier.

She explained: “He went over for a holiday. He had a couple of mates staying there, and he loved it so much that he stayed.

“We always talked over Facetime, and about three days before it happened, he said to me ‘Just think mum, if you get a passport, in six hours you could be sat next to me’. Then I had to get an emergency passport.

“The first time I went, they wouldn’t let me see him and there was no translator. I had no idea what was going on.”

Nicola continued: “I’m probably never going to be OK ever again. I don’t know how I’m supposed to be. Somebody knows something.”

The ECHO approached the Guardia Civil and Merseyside Police for comment.

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