Man charged with deaths of couple on Maldives honeymoon

24 Mar,BBC

A man has been charged in connection with the deaths of a West Yorkshire couple who were killed in a high-speed quadbike crash on their honeymoon.Jonathan and Emma Gray, both 25, from Halifax, died in the Maldives on 6 August.

The Maldives Police Service said Filip Petre, 23, a Swedish national, had been charged under the Maldives Penal Code with disobedience to order.The maximum sentence is death although it was last used in 1953.Mr Gray's mother Cath Davies said: "I still believe that what happened was a tragic accident and not the result of wilful or malicious intention."

Mr Gray - who was known as Jay - and his wife had a baby son, Jake, who was not with them on holiday at the Kuredu Island Resort and Spa.Mrs Davies said hearing about the charge had been hard for the couple's families."It impacts on us by bringing back all the events that happened and what we have gone through since," she said.