Couple's limoncello deaths prompt calls for Starmer to intervene

Greta Otteson, with her fiance Arno Quinton, who died hours after they said they had "the worst hangover ever"

The prime minister is being urged to raise the case of a British woman and her fiancé who died from methanol poisoning in Vietnam when he meets the country's leader.

Greta Otteson, 33, and Arno Quinton, 36, were found dead on Boxing Day in Hoi An, Vietnam, after drinking toxic limoncello that was bought by Greta's parents as a gift.

Ann Davies, the family's MP, has written to Sir Keir Starmer ahead of his meeting with Tô Lâm, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, in London, calling for the case to "receive the full attention and resources it deserves from the Vietnamese authorities".

The UK government said it "continues to raise the case with the Vietnamese local authorities involved".

Paul Otteson said he remained frustrated at what he saw as a a lack of action in relation to his daughter's death and urged Sir Keir "as a father" to raise the case.

Greta Otteson and Arno Quinton were found dead in the villa they lived in on Boxing Day 2024, with post-mortem examinations revealing they died from acute methanol poisoning.

In February, Vietnamese police said they arrested and charged a barman who worked in a restaurant in Hoi An for "violating regulations on food safety" by "using used 70-degree medical grade alcohol, along with filtered water, lemon peel and white sugar to create two bottles of limoncello".

The couple's death certificate said they died from methanol poisoning.

Methanol is a type of alcohol commonly found in cleaning products, fuel and antifreeze.

It is similar to ethanol, which is used for alcoholic drinks, but is cheaper and more toxic to humans because of the way it is processed by the body.

Arno Quinton, Paul Otteson, Susan Otteson and Greta Otteson pictured in Vietnam in November last year

Paul and Susan Otteson told the BBC last month how they had been with the couple weeks before they died, celebrating their engagement and that they had arranged for the limoncello to be sent as a Christmas gift to Greta and Arno.

The family said they have been given no further updates since the barman's arrest with Paul adding it was "sad" that he had to go to such lengths as asking the prime minister for help.

"I believe the PM has children who are at an age where they will shortly be going on to further education and possibly gap year travelling.

"I sincerely wish that he and his wife do not experience the pain that we and other UK families are enduring, through the horrible crime of methanol poisoning."

Paul urged Sir Keir to ask General Secretary Lâm to provide an update on the investigation and explain what was being done in the country to stop alcohol poisonings.

Ann Davies MP welcomed Greta's parents Susan and Paul Otteson to Westminster earlier this year for meetings with officials about the dangers of methanol poisoning

In a letter, Ann Davies Plaid Cymru MP for Caerfyrddin, also urged the prime minister to raise the matter during the meeting.

"The slow pace at which Greta's case is progressing in Vietnam is worrying and also raises concerns for the welfare of other British citizens who may visit the country in the future.

"Greta's parents are not only devastated by the loss of their child, who was taken from them so cruelly, but they are now having to fight a traumatic uphill battle with the Vietnamese authorities to seek truth and justice for their daughter and her fiancé."

A UK government spokesperson said: "Counterfeit alcohol poses a serious, life threatening risk to British travellers in some parts of the world.

"This is why the UK is working with local authorities and over 150 travel industry partners to raise awareness of the dangers of methanol poisoning."

The Vietnamese government and Da Nang City Police have been asked to comment.