SPANISH police have arrested a teenager on suspicion of murdering a former East Lancashire student.

Gareth Mather died after he was stabbed in the head just hours after arriving in the city of Barcelona.

The 20-year-old financial adviser from Wigan, who was a student at Stonyhurst public school, was travelling abroad on his own for the first time with his friend Neil Danner. Police in the Spanish city have been questioning a 17-year-old about the fatal stabbing which happened last month.

The Catalan police have named the suspect as Jordi Sanchez and say he has a record for violence and robbery. A second youth is also being held on suspicion of attempting to rob Gareth and Neil. The two were arrested on Saturday and have been held over the weekend.

The stabbing took place in Barcelona's famous main thoroughfare Las Ramblas where Gareth and Neil had been drinking.

Gareth was stabbed in the temple and remained in a coma in hospital for four days before his family, from Newton-le-Willows, near Warrington, agreed to his life support machine being turned off.

The death left Gareth's family devastated and there are plans to hold a memorial mass at his former school when pupils return from their summer holidays.

At the time Gareth's father, Raymond, said: "Gareth was a decent hard working lad and not a trouble maker."