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Antigua police question Mullany murder 'suspects'

Three quizzed on Antigua deaths

Death penalty after couple murder

A view from the hotel cottage in Antigua where Ben and Catherine Mullany were shot

Tuesday, 12 August 2008

Antigua's government will introduce the death penalty for crimes involving weapons in the wake of the murders of a British honeymoon couple.



The new sentencing legislation will be introduced for anyone who uses a gun or knife in a crime which results in death or serious injury.

The inquest into the fatal shootings of honeymoon couple Ben and Catherine Mullany has been opened and adjourned.

Three forensics staff from the UK have been sent to the Caribbean to help.

The couple from Pontardawe in the Swansea valley, were shot in their hotel cottage in Antigua on 27 July, the last day of their honeymoon, in what police think was a robbery which went wrong.

Catherine Mullany, who was training to become a GP, was killed instantly after being shot in the head.

Her husband, a University of the West of England physiotherapy student, died a week later after being airlifted to hospital in Swansea in a critical condition.

They were both 31.

Several people have been questioned in connection with their deaths but no arrests have been made.

The coroner for Swansea, Philip Rogers, released the bodies for burial at the opening of the inquest into their deaths.

Post mortem examinations on the couple found both had died from gunshot wounds to the head.

The couple's families did not attend the five-minute hearing at Swansea's County Hall, which was adjourned pending the outcome of inquiries by the police in Antigua.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said it had sent three civilian forensics staff to Antigua last week to work on the case.

The island's police force is reported to have just one forensics officer.

The deployment brings the number of British officers on the island to eight.

Antigua's justice minister Collin Derrick said the new legislation, to be introduced at the next session of parliament, would set a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison. Judges could also impose a sentence of life in prison.

Gun traffickers, who are blamed for a recent spike in violence in the tourism-dependent Caribbean nation, could also be sentenced to death under the proposal, Mr Derrick said.

"We are getting intelligence reports that there are considerable dealers in firearms," he said.

"At present, we're seeking ways to address that issue... which is causing tremendous injury and grief to families and this country."

Antigua currently has the death penalty but only for murder.

The current law establishes a maximum of 25 years in prison for an assault with a weapon that does not result in death.

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Memorial fund for Antigua couple

The families of a couple murdered on their Caribbean honeymoon have launched a memorial fund to help medical students follow in their footsteps.

The Mullany Fund will raise money to support UK students wishing to study medicine or physiotherapy.

Catherine and Ben Mullany, both 31 and from Pontardawe, Swansea Valley, were shot in July at a hotel in Antigua.

Ben's brother Adam said: "The fund will help us to preserve their memories and ensure that their dreams live on."

The couple travelled to the Caribbean island following their wedding at St John the Evangelist Church in Cilybebyll.

They were shot on the final day of their two-week honeymoon.

Speaking on behalf of the families, Adam Mullany added: "Cath and Ben dreamt of a married life caring for others in the local community - Cath as a doctor and Ben as a physiotherapist.

"Cath and Ben's dreams were cut short by their murder on the last day of their honeymoon.

"The Mullany Fund has been launched by the family and friends of Cath and Ben to support UK students wishing to study medicine or physiotherapy.


"As a family, we have lost two beloved members. The Mullany Fund will help us to preserve their memories and ensure that their dreams live on.

"As a country, we have lost a well respected doctor and a promising young physiotherapist.

"Whilst we will never replace Cath and Ben, this fund will help others to fill their shoes and continue the work that they had started."

A website has also been launched which gives instructions on how to donate and has a guestbook facility for visitors to leave messages of support.

A range of fundraising activities are being drawn up.

A memorial service is being held at Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff on Wednesday, 10 September to give family, friends and colleagues an opportunity to pay their respects.

Speaking about his brother, Mr Mullany said: "Ben was training to become a physiotherapist. No matter what work he did, it was always something that involved helping people.



" Her enthusiasm, love of life, sense of fun, broad smile and infectious laugh touched many lives"
Catherine's family

"Ben served his country in the army and he was a police officer. He just wanted to help.

"His life outside of work was always full of laughter and he never lived at less than one hundred miles per hour.

"Cath was the love of Ben's life and he would pick nothing over spending time with her, but his love for rugby was well renowned and he would always make quality time for his friends and family.

"Ben's values and optimistic outlook on life will carry on through everyone he ever met and he will be missed forever."

Catherine's family added: "Cath enjoyed an idyllic childhood on the family farm. She decided at a very young age that she wanted to be a doctor.

"Her childhood dream became a reality when she graduated from London's Imperial College in 2002, shortly after doing a six week course in Adelaide.

"During her training and after graduation, Cath worked in many London hospitals and others around the country before returning to South Wales.

"Wherever she went, she was noted as being a caring, confident, conscientious and popular team worker. Her enthusiasm, love of life, sense of fun, broad smile and infectious laugh touched many lives.

"Cath and Ben met just over three years ago and it soon became obvious that they were made for each other.

"They were blissfully happy together and full of plans for the future."

A man and a youth have been remanded in custody charged with both murders.

Murdered honeymoon pair's funeral

The Duchess of York has joined mourners at the funeral service for a couple murdered on their Caribbean honeymoon.

Catherine and Ben Mullany, both 31 and from Pontardawe, Swansea Valley, were shot in July at an Antiguan hotel.

Up to 900 people attended the service at Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, conducted by the Archbishop of Wales and the rector who married the couple.

The duchess, who gave a reading, said she had been "touched" after meeting members of their families by chance.

She read WB Yeats's poem He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven and spoke during the service about why she agreed to be patron of the Mullany Fund, a memorial charity set up by the families of the couple to help future medical and physiotherapy students.

She is also donating £10,000 from the Sarah Ferguson Foundation to the Mullanys' charity.

Sarah Ferguson explained that she became involved in the fund after meeting the couple's relatives on a plane to Antigua as she took her own daughters on holiday.

"They [the couple's families] got postcards from Ben and Catherine after they had died," she said.

"I think any mother getting a postcard, they were so in love and so happy, it must have been very difficult.

"The nation was so touched by it and I just felt they were taken away at such a young age," she said.

"It was the last day of their honeymoon. It was such an extraordinary story.

"As a mum and a parent I was so touched and I thought maybe we could find a way of helping the parents live on without their children."

Ben Mullany's brother Adam was among those to pay tribute to the newlyweds during the service.

He said: "Ben was my brother and best friend. I spent my whole life trying to be as much like him as possible.

"He never lost track of the most important thing in life - to enjoy it.

"I always wanted a sister and thanks to Ben I got one.

"I was with Ben the night he met Cath. I could tell straight away it was meant to be.

"I have no idea how Ben managed to woo Cath. He threw some awful dance moves. Luckily Cath managed to look past that."

Nicholas, one of Mr Mullany's oldest friends, said his ability to make friends wherever he went was "astonishing".

"Nothing could quench Ben's zeal for life," he said. "One lesson we can all take from Ben is about friendship, that there is no limit to the amount of friends one can make."

On the Mullanys' relationship he said: "In Cath Ben found a love that stopped him in his tracks. He was a gypsy no longer."

'Happy bride'

Another lifelong friend called Keith described Ben as "a rare one that just got better and better".

He said that Ben was a combination of three things - Judith Chalmers, George Clooney and a boomerang. He said he had travelled all over the world and had many women trying to pin him down to a relationship.

"But like a boomerang he always came back," he said.

Richard Bowen, Catherine's brother, talked of a sister who even as a child showed great empathy for those in pain.

"Cath will be remembered by many as a very happy bride," he said.

"Colleagues and patients remember a caring, patient and conscientious young woman."

He said of Catherine and Ben's relationship: "She had found someone unaffected, warm, considerate. From a brother's point of view, he was a wonderful husband for her."

The Archbishop of Wales, the Most Reverend Barry Morgan, and the Reverend Martyn Perry, rector of Cilybebyll, who married the couple, conducted the service.

Two candles were lit for the couple before the archbishop's opening prayer and John Newton's hymn Amazing Grace was sung.

A male voice choir also sang the Welsh love song Myfanwy.

Cricketer Sir Viv Richards sent a tribute to the couple, which was read out during the service.

It said: "On behalf of the people of Antigua I would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to the families of Catherine and Ben.

"As many of you know, I spent many years playing cricket for Glamorgan and have a strong affinity for Wales and the Welsh people."

He added he would be supporting the Mullany Fund.

After the service, Det Chief Insp Danny Richards conveyed a message of thanks from the couple's parents to all who had attended the service and for the support they had received from "family, friends and the wider community".

The couple were married on 12 July and travelled to Antigua for their honeymoon.

Mr Mullany, a trainee physiotherapist, and his wife, a doctor, were shot in their holiday bungalow at the Cocos Hotel and Resort 27 July, the final day of their two-week holiday.

Mrs Mullany died at the scene and her husband died a week later after he was flown home to south Wales in a coma.

The couple, who met more than three years ago, were buried last month in a private ceremony believed to be at the church where they were married, St John the Evangelist in Cilybebyll, near their home.

Keniel Martin, 20, and a youth aged 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons, face charges of murder, robbery and receiving stolen goods.

Two women who have been bailed, face charges of receiving stolen property and perverting the course of justice.



The Duchess of York and Adam Mullany, brother of Ben leave the Memorial Service carrying a photograph of the couple.

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