Murdered couple’s bodies released for burial

The family of murdered honeymooners Ben and Catherine Mullany were yesterday given the go-ahead to bury their loved ones.

A coroner released the bodies at the opening of an inquest into their deaths.

The couple, from the Swansea Valley, south Wales, were shot in a suspected bungled robbery at the Cocos Hotel, on the Caribbean island of Antigua on July 27.

Catherine Mullany, a 31-year-old doctor, died instantly. Her trainee physiotherapist husband Ben, also 31, was flown back to the UK where he died at Morriston Hospital, in Swansea, south Wales, on August 3.

Swansea Coroner Philip Rogers adjourned the inquest pending the outcome of inquiries by the police in Antigua.

The couple’s families did not attend the five-minute hearing at Swansea’s County Hall.

There are still no clear suspects although more than 30 people have been arrested in connection with the shootings.

Assistant commissioner Ron Scott, head of the force’s crime unit, resigned at the weekend citing personal reasons. He was one of four Canadian officers brought in earlier this year to transform Antigua’s troubled force.