A suspect in the Nikoline hit-and-run case was released without charge after CCTV allegedly showed he never left home during the hours of the killing, it has emerged.

Norwegian tourist Nikoline Piwoni Hoie, 17, was mowed down on the A-7 near the exit for La Cala de Mijas in the early hours of July 9.

She had been enjoying a night out with friends in Puerto Banus, Marbella, before getting into an Uber with two men after her phone died.

For a yet unknown reason, she got out of the vehicle and wandered onto the A-7, where she was hit by a vehicle.

A 46-year-old Spanish man was arrested in Calahonda after the Guardia Civil identified a white Ford van as the car that hit her, as it had damage that appeared consistent with the collision.

Officers had also cited fragments of glass found near the scene and alleged inconsistencies in the man’s first statements.

However, his lawyer, Jorge Garcia Badia, said the investigation had focused on his client simply because he owned a van similar to the one initially being sought.

Speaking on Antena 3’s Y ahora Sonsoles, the lawyer said security cameras belonging to a neighbour recorded the suspect’s home and parking area throughout the night.

‘He has footage proving he did not leave the house until after 7am,’ Garcia Badia said.

‘The van remained parked all night. The accident happened at 5.20am. It is impossible for him to have been involved.’

The defence also submitted documents claiming the damage to the van, including a broken windscreen and bodywork dents, had existed for around a year before the crash and was unrelated to Nikoline’s death.

Another key element of the original investigation has also been challenged.

Reports had claimed a neighbour saw the suspect cleaning the van with bleach just hours after the collision in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence.

But Garcia Badia insisted no such witness statement appears anywhere in the official Guardia Civil case file.

‘We don’t know where that information came from,’ he said. ‘It does not appear in any official proceedings.’

Despite the suspect’s release, the investigation remains very much alive.

The Guardia Civil continues to examine Nikoline’s final movements after she left Puerto Banus in an Uber during the early hours of July 9.

Investigators are still trying to establish why she got out on the A-7, close to where she had been staying, before she was fatally struck.

No new arrests have been announced, and officers say they remain committed to identifying the vehicle and driver responsible for the teenager’s death.

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