British expat who punched 'paedophile' to death in Spanish resort to be spared jail

Devinder Kainth, a wealthy businessman, was convicted of manslaughter but given a suspended sentence over attack on German man he caught photographing his children

British man Devinder Kainth, 40 and his partner Gemma Hawkins at Nikki Beach in 2014.
British man Devinder Kainth, 40 and his partner Gemma Hawkins at Nikki Beach in 2014. Credit: Photo: SOLARPIX.COM

A wealthy British businessman who killed an alleged German paedophile in an exclusive Spanish expat resort after catching him taking photographs of his young children will not go to jail despite being found guilty of manslaughter, Spanish judicial sources have told The Telegraph.

Estate agent Devinder Kainth was given a six-month jail sentence after admitting that he had killed Sandro Rottman by punching him at a restaurant in the upmarket area of Sotogrande, near Gibraltar.

He had discovered that the 43-year-old German socialite had pictures on his iPad of Mr Kainth’s young daughter, taken without permission.

The 39-year-old Kainth was eating at the resort’s Spinnaker restaurant in February of this year with his glamorous partner Gemma Hawkins and their three children - two young sons and a daughter - when an argument started over the images on Mr Rottman’s tablet, leading to the British man punching the German several times in the head.

Rottman, who was suffering from severe liver cirrhosis, died within minutes.

Sandro Rottman

According to the Spanish judge who sentenced Kainth, “they were punches which would not normally have caused a person’s death”.

Judge Raquel Gómez Sancho said in her summing up that Mr Rottman’s alcohol-related health problems had contributed to his death.

In sentencing Kainth, the judge also took into account his altered emotional state at the moment in which he confronted Rottman.

A source from the Andalucian justice system said that Kainth “will not go to jail as he has no prior criminal convictions”. In Spain it is customary for judges to suspend prison sentences of less than two years for first-time offenders.

However, The Telegraph understands that Kainth has appealed against the sentence. He wishes to have the suspended jail term replaced by a fine so that he can pay it and walk away without the threat of serving time hanging over him for the next two years. If he was to fall foul of the law in any other way, the six-month prison sentence would be automatically applied.

Gemma Hawkins, partner of Devinder Kainth

“He has not been in prison and he won’t be sent to prison,” the judicial source said. Kainth was briefly held on remand in the Botafuegos prison in Algeciras before being released on bail before his trial. The result of Kainth's appeal to a higher court is not expected to be known for several weeks.

The court heard that Kainth, a work-out fanatic known in the Sotogrande area as Victor, had walked over to Rottman after finishing his meal at the restaurant at around 10pm on February 7. “He realised as he talked to Sandro that he had been taking photos of his children without his consent,” the court file reads.

“This really upset the accused and led to him shouting at Sandro that he should erase them while he demanded he explain his actions. The tense situation led to a fight in which the accused punched Sandro several times in the head”.

Police revealed after Rottman's death that he was facing trial after being caught in possession of child pornography, with officers saying that they had found sickening images on the German’s laptop after being called to investigate a suspected break-in at his home.

Rottman was a well-known character in the Sotogrande area and helped organise Katie Price's August 2009 trip to the resort to promote her polo clothing range, during which time he was pictured accompanying the model and her and former husband Alex Reid.