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Police probing the death of Brit Steven Allford have arrested a man on suspicion of his manslaughter.

The 51-year-old was discovered last Friday at Malaga Airport bound to a bench with his trousers pulled down.

A slice of ham had been placed on each of his buttocks and his genitals put inside a tuna can.

A Finnish national aged around 50 was held on Wednesday at an undisclosed location.

He has already been remanded in jail pending an ongoing judicial probe following a private court hearing before an investigating judge.

(Image: Solarpix) (Image: Alamy)

A source close to the case described the suspect as a “well-built giant.”

It is not know what his relationship, if any, was to the dead man.

The source said: “He is being investigated at this stage on suspicion of a crime of manslaughter although that could change as the judicial probe progresses.”

Further arrests have not been ruled out.

Mr Allford body was discovered by a security guard just before 9am on Friday.

Mr Allford was found in a landscaped garden between Malaga Airport's train station and terminal building.

He had been bound face-down, with cable ties attaching an arm to one end of the bench and a leg to the other.

His trousers and pants had been pulled down, ham placed on his buttocks and his privates wedged into an open fish can.

News of the detention came shortly after it emerged a prosecutor specialising in hate crimes had agreed to take on the bizarre case and police were hunting three men seen with Mr Allford, who was sleeping rough at Malaga Airport, on the night he died.

The specialist prosecutor agreed to investigate the strange death after a complaint from a homeless support organisation.

Observatorio Hatento, an amalgamation of several charities across Spain which work with homeless people, says Mr Allford’s death could be a hate crime based on hobophobia - a fear of vagrants.

A post-mortem revealed Stephen had choked to death on his own vomit.

A sexual attack has not been ruled out because of the circumstances in which he was found - tied face-down to the bench with his trousers pulled down and a slice of ham placed on each of his buttocks.

The fact the suspect is being investigated at this stage on suspicion of homicide means the authorities think Mr Allford may have been bound to the bench before he died.

His body was discovered just before 9am last Friday in a landscaped area of Malaga Airport by a train stop well-used by tourists and opposite the arrivals lounge.

It is not known where in the UK Mr Allford was originally from, although he is believed to have spent some time living in Spain.Investigators have discovered he has a conviction for fraud from a court in Catalunya.

The prison the unnamed Finnish suspect has been sent to - Alhaurin de la Torre near Malaga - is understood to be the jail Mr Allford also served part of his sentence in after being convicted.