Man charged over NZer's death in Spain

A man has been arrested and charged in connection with the death of a New Zealand man in Spain last year.

Benjamin (Benny) John Coulson, 31, died in a Spanish hospital on December 23 after receiving a serious head injury four days earlier.

Mr Coulson's father Jock, of Egmont Village, near New Plymouth, said that police in Cambridge, England, had arrested a local man in his early 20s about four weeks ago and charged him with manslaughter.

He had been extradited to Spain where he was in custody awaiting trial, Mr Coulson said.

"We are just pleased to see him behind bars and having to face up to his actions," he told the Taranaki Daily News.

Benny Coulson lived with his Spanish wife Eva Lorenzo and son Jacky Boy, six, and ran his own building business in La Linea, near Gibraltar, for about 3-1/2 years.

His family said it was believed he had been hit from behind by a man while having a beer with friends on the night he died.

His injury was apparently not serious, and on the way home in a taxi Mr Coulson decided to visit his attacker and get an explanation about the incident.

When he went to the man's house he was allegedly headbutted and knocked unconscious - an injury he never recovered from.

It was not known when the man would face trial but Mr Coulson said the family would travel to Spain when it started.

- NZPA