Man charged over canal murders

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The victims - a 53-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman - were pronounced dead on the boat on the Grand Union Canal in Stoke Hammond, near Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, on Sunday.

William Cranston of Stoke Hammond, has been remanded in custody charged with their murders and will appear at Aylesbury Magistrates' Court.

It is believed the victims were both stabbed.

Police are refusing to name the couple, with formal identifications due to take place after post-mortem examinations.

But it is understood they are Mr Cranston's partner, named locally only as Kay, and a friend, named locally as Paul, who was staying with the couple on the boat.

The immediate area surrounding the red-painted vessel, called Secret, remained cordoned off as officers continued their investigation into the murders.

Mr Cranston and his partner had been temporarily moored at the picturesque spot, where they lived with their three-year-old son, friends said.

A friend of Mr Cranston and Kay, who would only identify himself as Mick from Hemel Hempstead, said: "I'm shocked. I just came down here to find out more."

Mr Cranston is an electrician, said Mick, and Kay a housewife.