From Somerset County Gazette

A COUPLE who survived a horrific machete attack at their Caribbean retirement home are suing the island’s government for £2million.

Peter and Murium Green, from Wellington, say they deserve to be compensated for the lasting physical and psychological impact of the brutal assault in Tobago in August 2009, and are asking for one million pounds each.

Mr Green, 70, was left blind in one eye and suffered permanent brain damage, while his wife, who is 65, was permanently scarred.

Mr Green told the County Gazette solicitors have been preparing their legal challenge against the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, which is likely to begin after the results of medical assessments on the couple are available.

The couple bought their home in Tobago in the late 1990s but have not returned to the island since they were attacked.

While in Tobago, the Greens befriended a German couple called Birgid and Hubertus Keil, who were found brutally hacked to death in Bacolet Bay on Saturday, not far from the Greens’ former home.

Mr Green said: “The Keils were a delightful couple – we used to go for walks along the beach together and would occasionally go dancing together.

“Apparently somebody crept up behind them and attacked them with a machete.

“When I heard what happened it suddenly made me relive what happened|to us.

“When I was hit the pain in my head was something I could never parallel with anything else, and as I began to lose vision I had the fear of knowing I was dying.

“When I heard what happened to the Keils, I relived all that and knew the Keils must have gone through the same fear.”

Mr Green admits there is a good chance his legal challenge will not be successful, but he remains undaunted.

He added: “It might cost us a lot of money but we’re going to do it.

“We want to bring it to people’s attention that these islands are dangerous.

“There have been several other incidents. A Swedish couple were decapitated just west of Bacolet not long before we were attacked.

“It’s a beautiful place but they do not tell you your life is in danger if you’re going over there – it should carry some kind of health warning like on a cigarette packet.”

IMAGE: Murium and Peter Green at home in Wellington.

For more on this story go to: http://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/11627511.Machete_attack_victims_to_sue_Caribbean_island_for___2million/