One of the more extreme responses to redundancy...

News reaches your correspondent of an tale of international intrigue and dastardly murder, all in a doomed effort to save a man from redundancy.

When Félix Martínez Touriño, Director of the International Convention Centre in Barcelona, was shot dead in a city street, police thought it was simply a case of mistaken identity. They did enquire into his private life, to see if there may be some motive there. The truth was rather more unexpected.

It turned out that Senor Tourino was planning a restructuring at the Convention Centre, and that jobs were to be cut. A staff member, discovering this and calculating that his was one of those most likely to be axed, contacted a Colombian through his sister, and agreed a fee for the killing of the director, a remarkably reasonable 12,000 euros.

Spanish police have now arrested the employee, his sister and the six Colombians involved in the assassination, and we can look forward to hearing his justification in court.

12,000 euros though, it does give one pause for thought...