'Police knocked on my parents' door and told them I'd died in Spain'

A dad-of-two has told how he was left "in shock" afterpolice knocked on his parents’ door and told them he had died.

Nathan Blake had just got out of the bath on August 16 when he received a 'surreal' call from his mum. The 35-year-old told how she explained two police officers had come to her house saying that Spanish authorities had found him dead. While questioning if it was just an 'elaborate hoax', Nathan had to go round to his parents' home with his passport to prove to the police he was still alive.

After ringing up the British consulate the next day he was told an imposter had been masquerading as him for three years. It emerged the man had given Nathan's name and passport number when he had been arrested in Barcelona in 2022 - presumably with fake documents corroborating it.

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It's unclear how the conman got Nathan's details but it's believed to be linked to him visiting Barcelona on a stag do just months earlier. He says the Spanish Guardia said the imposter was using two different aliases for three years and when he died they found Nathan's identification on his person.

Nathan's partner Holly West, 31, shared a TikTok clip explaining the 'bizarre' situation captioned 'police turned up and said my partner was unalive', which has since gone viral with more than 998,000 views.

In the video you can hear the mum-of-two saying 'I've never had a night like this in my life'. Unsure how the stranger got hold of his passport details that meant 'he was living a double life' the dad-of-two is now 'concerned' what implications this will have for the future.

Nathan, a quantity surveyor who lives in Aylesford, Kent, said: "My body went into a state of shock. I was shaken up a bit. It was so surreal and I didn't believe what was going on. It felt like a prank or a hoax.

"I'd just got out of the bath and my mum called me. I thought 'why is my mum calling me at 10pm at night'. She said 'I have the police here' and I said 'what have I done'?

"They'd come round to tell them that I'd died and that Spanish police had informed them that I was dead out there but obviously I wasn't. Ironically, I had just got out of the bath and I was completely fine. It's just so weird.

"I thought 'are they real police or is it an elaborate hoax'? I only live up the road so I got dressed, went in the car and got down there.

"The policewoman came over and she apologised for the situation and said 'we've never had this happen before'. I went and sat down with my parents and they were okay. My mum just didn't believe it. My dad was a bit taken back by it.

"The police had quite quickly said I was dead and that they'd been notified by the Spanish police in the same sentence so it was quickly identified that it wasn't me. I had messaged [my parents] in the family group chat an hour before that so in the back of their minds they thought 'he can't be dead'."

Nathan rang the British consulate the next day who explained the 'crazy' situation. He hopes that Spanish authorities are working to remove the record of him but the family have been advised to seek a Spanish lawyer to check his name for criminal records in a few months.

Nathan said: "I have no idea how he got hold of my details. The story [the British consulate] told me was that he got arrested in Barcelona and gave all my details.

"He must've had something to corroborate that. He'd been tracked for a couple of years and when he died he had two aliases on him and the one they went with was mine. I don't know enough about the situation and what crimes had been committed.

"It's just crazy the fact the bloke was found in Barcelona after I'd been there. The fact he was in Barcelona all added up. It was like I was living a double life. I thought 'did something happen when I was out there'? or 'did one of my mates do it as a joke'? It's just bizarre.

"My only concern is if I go abroad and my passport is blocked or I go somewhere else and get arrested. I don't want that to happen. I'm innocent in this so it's unfair. I have to stress about all this stuff. I just want to get it resolved."

Travel agent Holly hopes to spread awareness about her partner's 'unbelievable' predicament to help prevent the same thing from happening to anyone else. Holly said: "It's just a bit bizarre and a bit unbelievable.

"I was thinking he was walking into a potentially dodgy scenario. I thought 'this could be a real easy target and if someone wanted him dead right now this would be the perfect way to do it'. I phoned Kent police and explained my concerns because I just wanted to confirm this was genuine. They said they'd had a call about this earlier, this is a genuine call-out.

"It's outrageous. It's so comical he was in the bath of all places. He was just running around in a towel. I've just got to laugh at it because hopefully it'll get sorted. It's just mental. He's concerned about what implications this is going to have on his life. We have been to Spain since and travelled since and nothing's flagged up that he's a criminal. He's not dead and he's not a criminal but they can't guarantee that. It's crazy."

A spokesperson for Kent police said: "On Tuesday 16 September 2025, Spanish authorities alerted Kent Police to the death of a man who they believed to be a British national.

"Officers attended an address in Aylesford at their request to pass the message to the man's next of kin. While at the property, patrols established that he was in fact alive, safe and well, and have since updated colleagues in Spain." A GoFundMe page has been set up by Holly to cover the legal costs to help clear her partner's name.