Briton killed visiting relative in South Africa

A British man was shot dead in South Africa yesterday as he tried to protect his family during a bungled armed robbery.

Stephen Peters, 52, his wife Anne and their nine-month-old baby were staying at the house of their niece, in Pretoria, when they were awoken in the middle of the night to the sound of his niece's screaming.

Mr Peters, from Cardiff, entered her bedroom to find that three men had broken in. He snatched her away from them and pleaded with the burglars not to harm his family, but was shot fatally in the neck.

Mr Peters had flown to South Africa with his family a week ago to say a final farewell to his wife's sister, who is dying of cancer.

His niece, 28-year-old Siobhan Forman, said: "My uncle pleaded with them to take what they wanted, but to leave us. They shot him. They kept searching the house after they killed him.

"They killed a man for nothing. They didn't even take much. Can you imagine what we are going through? My mother is dying of cancer, my uncle came to visit, and now he is murdered."