Wife charged with pastor murder

Mr Brash previously ran a Baptist church in Runcorn, Cheshire

The Filipino wife of a British clergyman has reportedly been charged with his murder.

Pastor David Brash, 62, a Baptist minister from Warrington, Cheshire, was found dead in a swamp on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.

His wife, Annalyn Bataller Brash, 23, was charged along with two men after she admitted hiring accomplices to kill him, according to local reports.

Father-of-two Mr Brash left the UK to begin a new life with his wife.

'Pleasant girl'

Mr Brash's remains are believed to have been found on Saturday after his wife reported him missing.

Philippine police told the local media that Mrs Bataller Brash confessed to the killing following questioning, and led officers to his partially-burned body.

His ex-wife, Veronica, 61, said on Tuesday: "We have a very difficult situation to deal with."

Mr Brash ran the Runcorn Independent Baptist Church in Cheshire for 12 years.

He met his new wife in a church near her home in Mindanao, where he went on to work repairing computers and giving them to churches.

The couple married last year and he moved to the Philippines six weeks ago.

Stuart Hart, secretary of Runcorn Independent Baptist Church, said he had met Mr Brash's wife briefly.

"I asked her how she was settling in and coping with the British weather, that sort of thing," Mr Hart said.

"She was a very pleasant young girl, she seemed to be just a nice person.

"It's been described as a 'whirlwind' romance, but I think it happened across a number of visits over a period of two or maybe three years."

Mrs Bataller Brash is reported to have complained that she and her young son were "mistreated" by her husband.

The Foreign Office said earlier it was "aware of reports about David Brash" but could not confirm any details.