The mother of missing teen Amy Fitzpatrick has spoken of her distress at witnessing her partner being arrested by Spanish police.

Audrey Fitzpatrick (40) watched with horror as her partner Dave Mahon was handcuffed and fingerprinted at Malaga Airport on Friday.

The pair were about to board a flight to Dublin where they had hoped to celebrate the 19th birthday of her son Dean.

Coolock woman Audrey says they had no idea why Mr Mahon was being arrested and police did not tell them the reason.

The couple still did not know the charges even after his appearance in court later that day in Fuengirola, she claimed.

Mr Mahon was released and appeared in court again on Monday afternoon when he finally learned that he was being charged with allowing excessively loud music at their Costa del Sol home to disturb neighbours, said Audrey.

The arrest meant neither flew to Dublin on Friday but Audrey travelled alone on Saturday to spend a couple of days with her family and her son before returning to Spain.

"The police at the airport were very nice when they arrested him but Dave was still put in handcuffs, fingerprinted and put in a cell. He was treated as if he was a criminal. When they scanned his passport the computer indicated he had to be brought before a judge," she said.

Campaign

"I rang officers in the Guardia Civil who had been investigating Amy's case and they told me the arrest had nothing to do with Amy but they didn't know the reasons for his arrest," she said.

"I had a feeling it might have had something to do with debts," she said, explaining that they incurred many bills and expenses during their campaign to raise public awareness about Amy's disappearance.

Amy was 15 when she disappeared on the night of January 1 last year. She had left a friend's house in Calahonda on the Costa del Sol to walk to her own home less than two kilometres away but she did not arrive An extensive police search and investigation has failed to yield any clues.

Audrey said the court case regarding official complaints about loud music coming from their home will take place in the near future. It arose from an incident just before Christmas when neighbours called police about noise levels.

aokeeffe@herald.ie

- Alan O'Keeffe