Johnnys back in prison what’s Madison gonna do now?
John George murder suspect Johnny Smyth returned to prison in Spain as bail revoked
Judge orders he be returned to prison with the potential loss of the €100,000 bail bond.
The only remaining suspect in the murder of Belfast man John George has been ordered back to prison, as a judge reprimanded him for "not respecting" the Spanish justice system.
Johnny Smyth appeared in court in Torrevieia on Friday for a hearing linked to his release from prison on bail in December last year on a €100,000 bail bond.
John George was murdered in December 2024 while on holiday in Spain. His body was found in an orchard in Rojales near Torrevieia, South of Alicante, on January 7 last year.
Smyth spent most of 2025 in prison after being arrested at an Airbnb in northern Portugal in March and extradited the following month to Spain.
Since his release he has continued to come to the attention of Spanish police.
In March of this year he was caught with a number of weapons after he was stopped by police, along with his wife Madison Allen (21). Smyth had a 9mm Star pistol in the van he was driving, and during a follow up search of his home in Moralet near Benidorm, a "disassembled revolver and a sawn-off shotgun were discovered.
A bulletproof vest, a balaclava, two gloves, a gun magazine, more than 100 9mm cartridges and two knives were also seized.
The pair were arrested and spent three nights in a police cell before being released pending further investigation. Police are understood to be analysing the weapons to see if they have been used in any crimes, including John George's murder.
Smyth is understood to have alleged at the time of his arrest that he feared for his life following the March 1 street shooting of Czech national Michael Maly, who was also being investigated as a suspected accomplice in the fatal shooting of Mr George.
A 40-vear-old man from Manchester has been arrested in relation to the murder of Mr Maly, whose body was found at Rocio de Mar beach in Torrevieia
Smyth was present in court on Friday for an appeal of his bail brought by the George family.
The 27-vear old also made a counter application to the court, asking that his bail restrictions be relaxed to allow him to sign bail iust twice a week and also to return the majority of his bail bond and reduce the amount to €30.000
However, after the judge was shown evidence of social media content uploaded by the couple since Smyth's release which appeared to be mocking and threatening members of the deceased man's family, including the murdered man's father Billy
George. The judge called for a short adjournment to review the material. Among them was a clip of Smyth claiming he was "living like a king" during his time on remand in Spain. His wife had also gave interviews boasting that the couple enjoyed conjugal visits during his time on remand.
After reviewing the material the judge told Smyth he was "returning him to the kingdom" allowing him two days to get his affairs in order. The judge also reprimanded the Newtownabbey man, who has been living in Spain for several years, saying he had shown "no respect" to the justice system in the country.
The law in Spain means that the bail bond of €100.000 can now be retained by the state. Whether he loses some or all of the money is to be decided at a later date.
The court ruled that the bail granted on December 17 last year now be "set aside" and that Jonathan Alan Smyth be remanded in custody without bail until the disposal of the preliminary investigation into the murder of John George.
The George family said that they were "relieved" that Smyth had been returned to jail and thanked the judge "for considering all the information placed before the court".