Harry Begg died after a targeted hit and run in Tenerife.
Caroline Barry and Jonathon Blackburn
09:04, 26 Jan 2026Updated 09:05, 26 Jan 2026
Harry Begg(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A 19 year old teenager was buried without his heart after Spanish authorities told his heartbroken mum that they would need to keep the organ following his murder. Harry Begg died after a hit and run crash on December 1.
Harry was on a electric bike in Arona, in Tenerife when he was allegedly hit by a driver who failed to stop. As a result, Harry suffered head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, reports Manchester Evening News.
His mum was told by the Spanish coroner that the authorities had kept his heart. The messages, that were received just hours before his funeral on January, 6, said that his heart “is being preserved pending further testing as the investigation progresses, as that it was a criminal death“.
Nicola, 50, from Kirby, Merseyside, said: “The biggest part of Harry was his heart. If Harry loved you, he loved you with everything. The biggest part of Harry is stuck in Tenerife, where he was killed; left like a dog to die in the road. We’ve buried him without it.”
“The biggest part of Harry is stuck in Tenerife, where he was killed; left like a dog to die in the road. We’ve buried him without it.”(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Spanish police launched a murder investigation into Harry’s death. Spanish investigators call the case, a “criminal death”. In messages, they wrote: “Regarding the investigation, we continue to analyse information daily, as we do every day.”
His mum who was unaware of any meaningful investigation taking place, said: “I haven’t cried properly. Every time I look at a picture of him my head explodes because of the lack of investigation.
“You expect the police to do their job. You expect them to do what they’re supposed to do. The Spanish police have told me they have two eye-witness statements, and still nothing.
“This is my baby and they think that just because he’s out of the country now it doesn’t matter. I just want to know who killed him.”
Nicole said his brothers are ‘”devastated.” The family would have been celebrating Harry’s 20th birthday in two weeks time. He was the youngest of four boys: Thomas, 21, Ted, 25, Nicholas, 27.
Nicola explained: “Thomas and Harry were like peas in a pod. You didn’t get one without the other. He’s broken.”
Harry was buried two days after his funeral mass this was due to issues obtaining paperwork from Spanish authorities. Nicola added: “The Spanish coroner told me that they still had his heart the day before the funeral, and I got really upset. She said she would call me back when I had calmed down, and they still haven’t rang me back.
“There was no need for them to take the heart. He had a healthy heart, and he died of a catastrophic head injury. There was no peace for me at the funeral, no closure.”
Nicola paid tribute to her son explaining: “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.”
Harry had left for Tenerife for a holiday, but liked it so much that he had stayed. His mum had not seen him since he left 18 months ago. She said: “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.’
Harry had left for Tenerife for a holiday, but liked it so much that he had stayed(Image: Liverpool Echo)
“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. I’m probably never going to be okay ever again. I don’t know how I’m supposed to be. Somebody knows something.
“You can’t run a 19-year-old over and kill them and keep that to yourself. I don’t have the words for them. Evil walks among us. If I had done that, I’d be crucified by my conscience. He’s never going to be a man, he’s never going to have children of his own.”
Harry’s friends call Nicole everyday to check in and support her. She said the church was “heaving” at his funeral. The coroner’s office in Liverpool and Wirral was informed about Harry’s death on New Year’s Eve and confirmed the investigation is still ongoing.
Nicola said that Merseyside Police had not contacted her regarding Harry’s death. A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: “We have been made aware of the death of Harry Begg in Tenerife.
“The investigation into his death sits with the Spanish police but we are in the process of contacting his family to offer our support.”
Authorities in Spain and the Spanish Civil Guard, who are conducting the investigation have been approached.