The family of a British father-of-four who fell to his death in Benidorm say they have evidence that they say shows his death was not an accident.
Nathan Osman, from Pontypridd in South Wales, was discovered at the foot of a remote 650ft cliff on the outskirts of the resort last September while on a trip with friends.
The father-of-four had joined the getaway at the last minute and spent the evening of September 27 drinking with friends before heading back to his hotel alone.
But the next morning, his bed had not been slept in, and his body was found by an off-duty police officer later that day.
His family criticised the initial police response and carried out their own investigation, uncovering evidence that his card was used after his death, which led to the case being reopened.
In September, police said the 30-year-old’s death was an accident, something relatives described as ‘upsetting and frustrating’.
But his family have now told Sky News that new phone data suggests he couldn’t have reached the spot where was he was found, and suggested he arrived there in a vehicle.
Mr Osman’s brother, Lee Evans, told the broadcaster that the family tracked his final moments using a health app.
He said: ‘There’s a breakdown inside the app of every 10 minutes – the distance, pace, measurement of pace… every detail you can think of.
‘His pace wasn’t consistent with a fast walk or even a sprint’.
Mr Evans said the journey was much faster than this, even though it would’ve required going uphill for 40 minutes.
Mr Evans said the phone data helped determine Mr Osman likely died about 30 minutes after he was last seen on CCTV walking to his hotel in the early hours of the morning he died.
Mr Osman’s mother Elizabeth said: ‘It was really ridiculous to think that my son would’ve walked up there [the remote location where he died] at 4am in the pitch dark.’
She said that the family visited the area her son was found: ‘We were a bit upset, but we were very pleased we went up there. We could see… there’s no way he would have looked at that area and thought, ‘I’m going up here.’
‘You can see straight off, there’s no clubs, there’s no hotels up there, there’s just the odd house dotted around. It was just out in the wild, there was nothing up there.’
South Wales Police opened up its own investigation into Mr Osman’s death in May. Mr Evans claimed the UK force was ‘appalled’ by Spanish cops’ investigative procedures.
Mr Osman’s father Jonathan said: ‘No procedures were followed. Nothing was cordoned off, it wasn’t a crime scene. There’s loads of things that could’ve been taken. Tyre tracks, foot tracks, nothing. No DNA taken.’
Mr Evans added: ‘All that we’ve done over the last year, this could’ve been squashed within the first week, two weeks [by local investigators].
‘We’ve had to find out and keep delving into every possible outcome and overturn every stone possible. We started off with… a needle in a haystack, we had no direction or any support on which way to go.’
The last sighting of Mr Osman, according to Mr Evans, was him walking ‘very calm and collected’ following directions on his phone. He was found a 50-minute walk away from where he was last seen on CCTV.
At an inquest into his death in October last year, senior coroner Graeme Hughes heard the man suffered traumatic brain injuries after falling from the cliff.
‘He drank quite rarely and has never used recreational drugs. His autopsy revealed that there were no drugs in his system,’ Hughes said.
‘Nathan had four beautiful children and enjoyed life to the fullest. He never imagined that a break in the sun would lead to his death.
‘He was just really excited and really looking forward to seeing his friends and having a relaxing holiday.’
Spanish police declined to comment to Sky News saying the case was under judicial review.
