Four young St Lucian men have been charged with the murder of British yachtsmen Roger Pratt.
The 62-year-old retired consultant was beaten and left to drown and his wife, Margaret, was injured when robbers attacked their yacht last Friday.
One week after the killing police brought the first murder charges against four men arrested nearby in the southern port of Vieux Fort.
The government named them as Richie Kern 21, Kervin Devaux 31, Fanis Joseph, 21, and Jeromine Jones, 21. All are from the shanty town of Bruceville.
They appeared briefly before a district court in Vieux Fort to face charges of murder and robbery on Friday and are due back in court on February 4.
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22 Jan 2014A spokeswoman for the St Lucian prime minister, Kenny Anthony, said: "It is very encouraging to see that information provided by the local community has led to arrests and to charges.
"We will be monitoring this case carefully and hope it will serve as an example that this kind of activity is unacceptable and will not go unpunished."
A post-mortem examination concluded that Mr Pratt's killers beat him with their fists until he was knocked unconscious and then let him drown in the harbour.
The St Lucian government has been anxious to see a swift prosecution in order to reassure the British and American visitors upon whom the island's tourist economy depends.
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