Two charged with murder of newlyweds

A MAN and a teenager have been charged with the murders of a British couple who were shot in their resort cottage on the last day of their honeymoon in the Caribbean.

In Antigua, court officials said the 20-year-old man and 17-year-old male were taken yesterday to a magistrate court in the capital, St John’s, where they were charged with murder, robbery and receiving stolen goods.

Police would not identify the men who were taken to prison after being charged. Neither would they say where they were from.

Benjamin and Catherine Mullany, both 31 and from Wales, were married on July 12 and went to Antigua for a two-week honeymoon.

On July 27, the day they were to leave, they were shot before dawn at the Cocos Hotel in the island’s southwest. Local police have said robbery appeared to be a motive for the murders.

In a statement yesterday, the couple’s families said: “We were informed this morning of the news from Antigua and we are pleased at how the investigation is progressing.

“We are not going to make any further comment at this time and we would ask that the media continues to respect our privacy.”

A South Wales police spokesman said: “Earlier today South Wales police informed the families of Ben and Catherine Mullany of the latest developments in Antigua. The force is continuing its support of the ongoing investigation and trained family liaison officers are continuing to support the families and keep them fully updated on events both in the UK and Antigua.”

In Antigua police have in recent days interrogated three people in connection with the murders and a total of eight people have been arrested in the course of the investigation.

Some of the arrests have led to drugs-related charges unconnected to the murder of the couple. Two women, aged 32 and 22, appeared before magistrates in St John’s on Thursday last week. The charges they face are understood to relate to property stolen from the Mullanys’ holiday cottage.

Mrs Mullany, 31, a doctor, died instantly in the attack.

Her husband, a trainee physiotherapist, also 31, died in hospital in Swansea after he was flown home in a coma. They were buried in a private ceremony on Wednesday last week.