Spanish police have charged a businessman with the murder of a British expatriate found battered to death in his flat in Barcelona.

William Madley, 44, was arrested at the weekend after he was spotted by a police at a train station in Barcelona.

Mr Madley, who is originally from Huddersfield, was held in connection with the murder of Derek Cowan, 46, a former business partner, who was discovered in a pool of blood at his penthouse apartment in the city on October 8.

Mr Madley was charged with the murder when he appeared in court on Sunday, and remanded in custody.

He had allegedly arranged to meet his former partner on the day that he died. Mr Madley, who described himself as a currency trader, from Lanarkshire, Scotland, had lived in Spain for the past seven years.

After a chance meeting in Barcelona, Mr Cowan was said to have agreed to meet him. Mr Cowan's present business partner, Andreas Langweider, had become worried when he failed to return his calls the next day.

He went at Mr Cowan's flat in the fashionable Eixample district of Barcelona to find him dead, with blood streaming from his head.

So far there are no witnesses to any alleged meeting between Mr Cowan and Mr Madley.

A police source said: "Andreas gave us a full account of Derek's movements on the day of his death.He claims Derek met him and said he'd bumped into [this man] out of the blue. He said he had a great new business idea and he wanted Derek on board.

"Andreas and Derek were a bit surprised but Derek agreed to see him nonetheless."

Mr Cowan and Mr Madley were said to have worked together two years ago, but that the partnership ended after a disagreement over money.

After his murder, it emerged that Mr Cowan was suspected of having links to fraudulent share-dealing by Britons based in Spain and was one of dozens of share dealers whose operations were being monitored by British and Spanish police.

British police are concerned about the rising number of "boiler room" frauds in Spain, in which high-pressure sales techniques are employed to sell worthless shares to Britons.

Spanish police requested information about Mr Cowan from British police who were monitoring five "phoenix companies", which appear, then disappear.

There are several share dealers based in Barcelona who are based not in offices but in bars around the city and operate using just their mobile phones.

Mr Cowan, who lived with his Spanish girlfriend, was a partner in United Companies and Associates.

On his Friends Reunited website profile, he wrote: "Have travelled extensively, living in London, Manila and now settled (for the time being) in Barcelona. Living with Spanish girlfriend and working as a currency trader in the sun."

Mr Langweider said: "All I will say is that Derek was my best friend and he was like a brother to me. He was the best person you can imagine and he is missed by so many people."

John Irvine, 46, a close friend of Mr Cowan, said: "He was a very likeable character, very good fun, entertaining and sociable. He was good hearted through and through and very close to his friends."

The Catalan regional police said: "A 44-year-old man was arrested at the weekend and has been charged with murder [of Mr Cowan]. He appeared in court on Sunday and was remanded in custody."

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