The Antigua government has requested help from Scotland Yard in solving the shooting of a pair of British honeymooners as part of a new crackdown on the violent crime plaguing the Caribbean island.

Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer made the request for help from British police in a televised address to the nation in response to the shooting at the Coco's Hotel luxury resort on Sunday that left Catherine Mullany dead and her husband Ben clinging to life on a ventilator at a local hospital.

Today, police said that Ben's parents intended to fly him back to Wales "as soon as possible" when an air ambulance was available to take him.

"The truth is unpalatable to some people. But the recent killing of Dr. Mullany and the brutal attack on her husband are threats to our very survival as they directly threaten our main industry: tourism," Mr Spencer said.

"Our nation has always been known as a safe destination. Our very brand is based on people being safe in Antigua and Barbuda. Accordingly, your government will not tolerate any action that will tarnish the reputation of this country."

The Antigua government has come under harsh criticism for its failure to stem the rising tide of violent crime which saw 19 people killed last year and another 10 people murdered so far this year.

A High Court judge this week joined the chorus of protest, compaining that there are too many unlicensed guns on the streets of the island nation.

"I have been in Antigua for a pierod of about three years and I have become aware of certain hot spots. How come the police don't know of these hot spots?" asked Justice Louise Blenman at the close of the May Criminal Assizes.

Mr Baldwin outlined a series of get-tough measures to crack down on the crime wave, including installing surveillance cameras in key locations and making sure that violent offenders do not escape with just a fine.

He said the government was also considering the introduction of new wire-tapping legislation.

Police will also resume random stop-and-search operations in an effort to root out firearms and illegal drugs in targetted areas.

Immigration controls will be tightened and criminals deported to Antigua from Britain and other Western nations will be subjected to close monitoring.

"These extraordinary times and crimes call for extraordinary measures," Mr Spencer said.

The Prime Minister's TV address came as the parents of Mrs Mullany, 31, a doctor from Pontardawe, south Wales, and Mr Mullany, 31, a physiotherapist from the village of Ystalyfera, near Swansea, visited his bedside in the intensive care unit at Holberton hospital in the nation's capital, St John's.

Police today said that the couple's parents - Marilyn and Cynlais Mullany and Dai and Rachel Bowen - intend to fly him back to Britain for further medical care, even though he is reported to be brain-dead.

“He will be flown back as soon as possible when the air ambulance is available,” Cornelius Charles, an Antiguan police spokesman, said.

Mrs Mullany's body is expected to be released by medical authorities today after undergoing a post-mortem on Wednesday, so it can be flown back to Britain for a funeral.

The couple's grieving parents made no comment to the press as they visited the hospital, gripping each other's hands. But they later issued a statement through the Foreign Office criticising some media coverage of the case.

Their statement took an apparent swipe at a report that the couple were tortured for 20 minutes before being shot on the last day of their honeymoon at the Coco's Hotel.

"We have found some of the stories reported in certain areas of the press insensitive, untrue, and have added to our distress," the families said.

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