Florida: Dark underbelly of America's Sunshine State

The Sunshine State is most often associated with sandy shores and retirement homes.

But beneath the sunny surface lies a dark side of criminality, in which hapless holidaymakers become caught up from time to time.

Some 113,541 violent crimes were recorded in Florida in 2009, the latest year for which figures are available. This equates to 612.5 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest rates in the US.

James Cooper and James Kouzaris were not the first British tourists to be among the violent crime death toll there.

In September 1993, holidaymaker Gary Colley was shot dead and his girlfriend injured during a botched mugging on a highway near Tallahassee.