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A doctor claims he pleaded with a Spanish police officer to stop choking ex-Rugby League player Luke Rhoden before he died.

Luke, from Ince, in Wigan, is understood to have been running around before plunging from a hotel balcony on the party island of Ibiza last month.

The 25-year-old survived the first floor fall but police officers reportedly restrained him as they put him into an ambulance near the Ibiza Rocks Hotel in the resort of San Antonio. He died a short time later, possibly from a heart attack.

There are claims that Luke, who played rugby as a junior for Wigan Warriors, Oldham Roughyeds and Englands under-17 side, may have been held down by police officers.

Santiago Akoskin, a doctor who was one of the first at the scene, has claimed that he had to ask a civil guard officer three times to remove his baton from Lukes neck before he withdrew it.

Spanish police say they had to restrain Luke for his own safety after he started ranting at guests and refused medical treatment.

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An investigation into the death is ongoing. But Dr Akoskin claimed local police used excessive force. He said: I told the police officer who was choking him three times to withdraw his baton from the tourists neck and he only removed it at my third time of asking.

When I told him Youre choking him the first time he replied in a bad way by saying: I know what Im doing.

The doctor, who works for hotels in Ibiza, claims police also put clamps around Lukes legs after he started kicking officers.

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Doctor claims Spanish police were 'choking' tragic rugby player Luke Rhoden