The Policia Nacional discovered that a family in the province of Sevilla had been keeping a 59-year-old brother with mental problems locked up in appalling conditions.

The man was kept in a 3-metre-square pigeon loft by his elder brother and sister, who were immediately arrested after the discovery.

The police had acted in response to a call from a resident of Dos Hermanos to say that a drunken man was causing disturbances in a local bar.

The police located the 76-year-old man and escorted him home. When they entered they were intrigued by a door secured with a chain at the end of a corridor. The man explained that this was where his younger brother lived. He said that he had mental problems and for his own good was locked up there.

Also present in the house was his 61-year-old sister, who confessed that it was she who took him food, medicine and cleaned him. She also explained that she administered her captive brother’s pension, amounting to 1,000 euros a month.

The police asked them to open the door, which they did and then came to another locked door. This was also reluctantly opened and there the police found a narrow staircase leading to a pigeon loft which was missing part of the roof.

They found the captive, completely nude, lying on a mattress in a filthy state. The room contained bottles and buckets instead of a toilet or wash facilities.

The police immediately transferred the man to hospital, where after consulting electronic files it was discovered that there was no record of him having received any medical assistance since 1996. Other than this information, it is impossible to know how long he had been locked up in this fashion.

His brother and sister have been charged with cruelty within a family home and illegal detention.

(News: Dos Hermanas, Sevilla, Andalucia)