Met Police launches murder probe into British man's death in Grenada

Andrew Frederick, 47, was found dead in Grenada on 4 January 2026. Two pathologists ruled his death a homicide, contradicting local authorities' accidental-death verdict.

Metropolitan Police open investigation into Grenada death of Andrew Frederick

The Metropolitan Police have formally launched an investigation into the death of 47-year-old British national Andrew Donald Frederick, who was found dead at his Caribbean holiday home in Grenada on 4 January 2026, stvincenttimes.com reports. Senior Coroner Lydia Brown confirmed the development at the West London Coroner's Court, where the UK cause of death is currently listed as "unascertained." The UK inquest has been suspended pending the outcome of the Metropolitan Police's active inquiry.

Frederick, a married father of two, experienced swimmer and triathlete, was initially classified by Grenadian authorities as having died an "accidental death." That verdict was directly contradicted by two separate post-mortem examinations. A pathologist approved by the Royal Grenada Police Force concluded that Frederick had been tortured and that his death constituted a homicide. A further private post-mortem commissioned by the family, conducted by forensic pathologist Professor Daisley, reached the same conclusion.

FCDO declines specialist referral

Armed with those findings, Frederick's family referred the case to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, submitting the post-mortem report as evidence that he had been tortured and killed. The FCDO declined to pass the matter to its dedicated murder and manslaughter team — a unit established in 2015 to assist families of British nationals who become victims of homicide abroad — choosing instead to defer to the Grenadian police's classification of the death as "suspicious" rather than homicide. The family stated the department acted on "pure discretion" without any formal guidance underpinning its position.

In a joint statement, the family described the impact of that refusal: "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 is not what grief should look like. It is what institutional failure looks like."

Parliamentary question and political criticism

Dr Rupa Huq, the Member of Parliament for Ealing Central and Acton, took up the family's cause and tabled a formal question in Parliament. She challenged the legal basis on which the FCDO would defer to a foreign police force's classification over the determination of a qualified pathologist and a death certificate, particularly in circumstances that would automatically trigger a homicide investigation in England and Wales.

FCDO Undersecretary Hamish Falconer acknowledged awareness of the case but conceded there was no "guidance on the specific circumstances" governing such decisions.

Charity voices frustration over systemic gaps

Eve Henderson, co-founder of the charity Murdered Abroad — which was instrumental in campaigning for the creation of the FCDO's murder and manslaughter team in 2001 — expressed deep bafflement at the government's stance. Henderson noted that between 60 and 80 British nationals become victims of homicide abroad each year, and criticised the discretionary nature of UK support, pointing out that families are routinely left to navigate a "maze of complications" because these services carry no statutory backing.

Bernie Kinsella, a retired UK police chief superintendent and adviser to the charity, echoed those frustrations, stating there had been a notable absence of meaningful progress in support structures for affected families in the 25 years since he first worked on an overseas homicide investigation.

Grenada refers case to coroner

In Grenada, Howard Pinnock, the Director of Public Prosecutions, reviewed Frederick's case file and advised local police to refer the matter to the coroner for an inquest — a move that aligns the island's process more closely with the homicide classification supported by both post-mortem reports.

With the Metropolitan Police investigation now formally under way and diplomatic discussions between UK and Grenadian authorities ongoing, Coroner Brown's suspension of the UK inquest offers the family a degree of procedural forward movement in what has been, by their account, five months of institutional obstruction.

Source: Google News GD — Crime