Relatives and friends of a Warminster man murdered in the Philippines last month gathered to celebrate his life at a wake on Saturday.

The elder brother of Charles Maxwell, 61, known as Charlie, travelled from Australia to be at the wake, held at the George Inn in Longbridge Deverill, the village where Charlie lived and worked for many years.

The retired picture framer and restorer, who left Wiltshire to start a new life abroad last year, was shot twice in the chest on Sunday, April 12, after gunmen raided his home in Ubay, on the paradise island of Bohol, where he lived with his 21-year-old Filipina girlfriend, Charita del Rosario.

His brother Patrick Maxwell, 71, who moved to Perth, Australia, in 1976, said: “Charlie was different to the average person. He was lively and unpredictable.

“I last saw Charlie 19 months ago. He just ‘popped’ in - he didn’t let us know he was coming. He just turned up, but then he was like that."

At the wake, photographs of Charlie throughout his life were shown to music on a projector screen inside the pub, while tributes from friends were read out, as well as poems.

Music played at the celebration included Starman by David Bowie, Tina Turner’s Simply the Best and River of Life by David Essex.

After the wake, Charlie’s ashes were driven down to Ladram Bay in south Devon on the back of a Honda Goldwing motorbike and trailer - a favourite of Charlie’s - before his ashes were scattered in the sea.

His ex-wife Jane Wells, who he was married to for more than 25 years, said: “It was an absolutely brilliant night on Saturday,” she said.

“It was perfect. Charlie would have loved it."

Police investigations into Charlie’s death are continuing in the Philippines, although at the time of going to press no one has been arrested for his murder.

*For the full story on Charlie Maxwell's wake see this Friday's Wiltshire Times.