The trial of two boatmen accused of killing a 50-year-old mother is due to start in Brazil today.

The men have been charged with the equivalent of manslaughter following the death two years ago of Gillian Metcalf.

Lawyer Mrs Metcalf, of Plummer Lane, Tenterden, died from head injuries when a boat her family was travelling in collided with another on the Rio Negro.

Her husband, Charlie, said the boatman were playing a game of dare and neither would turn away.

“It has been a heck of a long wait,” he said. “It all seems to be going ahead but the court will not commit that the trial will be held on consecutive days which is rather frustrating.

“You have been waiting so long you get numbed to it and start to believe if it will ever happen. We just want to get it out of the way.”

Mr Metcalf said he wanted to see the two defendants face trial.

“Both pilots will be in court giving their own versions and facing justice, which should be gullty as charged," he said.

“If it is decided on the evidence, it is clear what the judge should decide.”

He and the couple’s daughters, Alice and Natasha, who went to school in Ashford, have been campaigning for justice since Mrs Metcalf died.

Mr Metcalf pressed the Brazilian authorities to prosecute the men and highlighted the case with media interviews in Manaus.

He and Alice are in Brazil this week and he will give evidence at the trial.

The Metcalfs were in a boat piloted by Raimundo Nonato Lima when it collided with another boat piloted by Mailson Gomes.

The family were on holiday and were on their way towards the hotel Juma Jungle Lodge in Rio Preto da Eva when the tragedy happened.