Death of Brit father who fell 600ft from Benidorm cliff will be reinvestigated by police as family insist there was 'foul play'
Detectives previously thought Nathan Osman, 30, had suffered an accident or possibly even taken his own life while on holiday at the tourist hotspot.
But his family, who have questioned the Spanish authorities from the start, have always suspected 'foul play' in the tragedy.
After a drawn-out battle to get the police report, they probed the circumstances around Osman's death further.
His brother Lee Evans helped compile a comprehensive timeline of his movements from the minute he left the UK until the last moment they could find him on the CCTV cameras of local Benidorm businesses.
In March, members of the family travelled to Spain and presented their timeline, in both English and Spanish, to the relevant authorities.
Meeting with the Policía Nacional, and the head prosecutor and judge on Nathan's case, the family said Osman was not a 'typical Brit going abroad on a lads' holiday.'
'Nathan liked to go and experience different places, and he'd even decided to book on his friends' holiday and join them last minute,' Evans said, according to The Olive Press.
'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.'
After a drinking outing with friends on September 27 - the first day of the long weekend break he had spontaneously joined - the tired father-of-four walked back to the hotel alone to sleep.
But the next morning, his bed had not been slept in - and an off-duty police officer found his body, at the foot of a remote cliff in Benidorm's outskirts, later that day.
Evans has previously said his brother had no reason to do the hour-long walk there, in the opposite direction to his hotel, alone. He instead believes his brother was taken to the cliff, either by taxi or against his will.
The last sighting of Osman, according to 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 Osman's death in October last year, senior coroner Graeme Hughes heard the man suffered traumatic brain injuries after falling from the cliff.
'If he had gotten lost as the authorities told us he had, Nathan would have asked for directions to guarantee he arrived safely back at his hotel,' Evans noted.
'We know Nathan and recognised from the start that something was wrong. Nathan was extremely streetwise and intelligent,' his sister Alannah Hughes said.
'It wasn't investigated thoroughly, not even a basic investigation was carried out.'
The family have travelled to Benidorm and retraced Osman's footsteps to the exact spot where his body was airlifted.
They said someone tried to use his bank card at a shop near where his body was found the next morning, while his valuables had disappeared.
But police handed back the phone shortly after Osman's parents arrived in Spain.
'With a normal investigation, they should have kept the phone and looked into it,' Evans said.
From their own efforts, the family have worked out Osman was on a video call to a friend that night, until his phone died.
They said the head prosecutor in the case was receptive to their appeals, and was 'blown away' with the detailed investigation. She said the case will be taken seriously by detectives.
The judge and prosecutor have now agreed to reopen the case and to investigate Nathan's death as a potential homicide, with foul play being determined due to the factors raised.
'We've felt abandoned, but we left Benidorm that day knowing that the investigation is wide open and is ongoing,' Evans said.
'We want to be able to tell Nathan's children when they're older that we tried everything in our power to get justice for their dad.'
A spokesperson for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office said in March: 'We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.'
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