The grieving family of a British man found dead in his home on the Caribbean island of Grenada have accused UK authorities of failing to support their fight for justice. Andrew Frederick, 47, was discovered on 4 January, and a postmortem examination revealed he had been tortured and killed.
The family is calling for an urgent review of policies governing UK assistance to the loved ones of Britons killed abroad. A spokesperson for the family stated that they were forced to launch public appeals for information and commission an independent forensic pathologist and a private investigator after concerns arose about the direction of the police investigation in Grenada.
The pathologist, approved by the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF), concluded that Frederick had been tortured and that his death was a homicide. The family then referred the case to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). However, despite the postmortem report establishing homicide, the FCDO refused to refer the case to its murder and manslaughter team, a specialist unit that supports families of British nationals who are victims of homicide abroad.
The family said in a statement: “Acting on pure discretion and with no guidance to underpin its position, the FCDO chose to defer to the local police force’s classification of Andrew’s death as suspicious but not a homicide over the determination of the only medical professional who examined Andrew.”
After the family referred their case to Dr Rupa Huq, MP for Ealing Central and Acton, she tabled a question in parliament in April, asking on what legal basis the FCDO deferred to a foreign police force’s classification over the determination of an officially appointed pathologist and an official death certificate. FCDO undersecretary Hamish Falconer responded that he was aware of the case but noted there was no guidance on the specific circumstances.
The family said the delays and gaps in support from UK authorities had taken an “immeasurable toll” on them, adding that they had received no information or updates from the RGPF since mid-January. They said: “We have been unable to grieve properly for Andrew because grief requires a degree of resolution or at least the belief that those with the power to act are acting. Instead, nearly five months have been spent driving a campaign for justice while carrying the weight of what was done to him. This includes examining horrific pictures and the knowledge that the organisations that exist precisely to help families in these circumstances have, at every turn, forced us to fight for the most basic engagement. This is not what grief should look like. It is what institutional failure looks like.”
Eve Henderson, co-founder of the Murdered Abroad charity, which is helping Frederick’s family, expressed bafflement at the UK’s reluctance to offer support despite the postmortem and death certificate categorising the case as a homicide. Murdered Abroad was instrumental in the campaign for the establishment of the FCDO’s murder and manslaughter team in 2015, after Henderson’s husband was killed in 1997 while on holiday in France.
Henderson noted that on average, there are between 60 and 80 homicides of British nationals abroad each year, which is about 10% of all homicides in England and Wales. She said that when it happens, people assume they will be assisted by UK police or the Foreign Office, but many find themselves facing a maze of complications and frustrations. She added that much of the support is discretionary and not backed by law, and attempts to get it written into law have failed.
Bernie Kinsella, a retired UK chief superintendent of police who worked on the case of British student Joanna Parrish, murdered in France in 1990, echoed Henderson’s concerns. Kinsella, an adviser to Murdered Abroad, said that while British police are limited due to lack of jurisdiction, there has been a lack of meaningful progress in support for families over the past 25 years.
An FCDO spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Grenada and are in contact with the local authorities.” The Metropolitan Police declined to comment on investigations by other forces. In Grenada, Director of Public Prosecution Howard Pinnock said Andrew Frederick’s file had been reviewed and advised the police to refer the matter to the coroner for an inquest. The RGPF was approached for comment.
