‘We’ll keep fighting’ — Pontypridd family’s plea after brother’s death in Benidorm

The family of a man who was found dead in Benidorm less than 24 hours after arriving in the Spanish tourist destination say they have "been through hell", and want better support from authorities for families like theirs in future.

Father-of-four Nathan Osman, 30, was found dead at the base of a remote cliff less than 24 hours after arriving in Benidorm last September.

His family, from Pontypridd, told S4C’s Y Byd ar Bedwar programme that they “didn’t get the support” they expected from the Foreign Office, and are now campaigning for a change in the law.

Within hours of finding Nathan’s body, police initially concluded that the cause of death was suicide – something which the family refutes. 

Alannah Hughes, Nathan’s sister, said: “We knew straight away that there was something untoward behind this story and behind Nathan’s death.

“I received a phone call off a Spanish number... they said 'your brother has been found dead at the bottom of a cliff'... and that was it."

As a result, the family travelled to Benidorm to gather their own evidence to present to the National Police – which Nathan’s brother, Lee Evans, described as “instinctive”. 

This evidence included proof of attempts to use Nathan’s bank card in the hours after he died on 28 September.

Their dossier also included a list of properties with CCTV which hadn’t been collected by local police.

Lee said: “We’ve had to fight for evidence and for answers, but there is still so much we don’t know.” 

After the family presented the evidence, the National Police in Benidorm reopened Nathan’s case as a homicide investigation.

Despite this development, the family feels that there was a lack of support throughout. 

Alannah said: “We reached out to the police here in Benidorm... We had no help. No support from any authority”. 

Now, they’re calling for a change of law to provide more help for families of British nationals who have been murdered abroad – with the backing of their local MP, Labour's Alex Davies-Jones.

This would include a statutory framework to provide consistent communication in English to bereaved families, as well as a named point of contact.

Lee told Y Byd ar Bedwar that this framework should extend to increased financial support – something which would have helped them pay the £7,000 needed to get Nathan’s body back to the UK. 

In response, a spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “Our staff stand ready to support British nationals around the world. In any given year, we support around 20,000 British nationals and their families.

"In cases of British nationals who die abroad, we can provide personalised support including practical information regarding processes in different countries.”

For Alannah, she feels these changes are necessary. 

She said the family have “been through hell” and that they “want families in the future, if they lose loved ones abroad, to have a structure that we didn’t have".

“We’re exhausted but we’ll keep fighting," Alannah said.

Lee added: “We can look at the family, to Nathan’s children and tell them we’ve tried everything and done everything to get answers."

We contacted the National Police in Benidorm to respond to the family’s claims about the way they’ve handled Nathan’s case, but they said they cannot comment or share information as the investigation is still ongoing. 

Watch the full programme: ‘Y Byd ar Bedwar: Damweiniau dros y dŵr’ on S4C or BBC iPlayer on Monday, 16 June, at 8pm. English subtitles are available.