BRISBANE, Australia — An American man convicted over his wife's honeymoon scuba diving death is facing a harsher punishment after getting a "manifestly inadequate" one-year jail sentence. Christina Watson, married for just 11 days, drowned on the Great Barrier Reef in 2003 on a trip with her husband. The 26-year-old's body was found on the ocean floor. David Watson, 32, of Birmingham, Alabama, has been sentenced earlier this month to serve one year of a four-and-a-half year sentence for manslaughter. The husband was to stand trial for murder, which carried a potential life sentence, until a guilty plea to the lesser charge was accepted. "I have formed the view that this sentence is manifestly inadequate," Queensland Attorney General Cameron Dick said, while announcing an appeal for a longer jail term. Coroner David Glasgow formally charged Watson with murder last June, saying it was likely the American killed his wife by holding her underwater and turning off her air supply. The coroner said a possible motive was Mrs Watson's modest life insurance policy. Prosecutors said the manslaughter plea was accepted on the basis that Watson - trained to rescue panicked divers - failed in his duty as her dive buddy by not giving her emergency oxygen. They said Watson allowed his wife to sink to the ocean floor without trying to retrieve her, and he did not inflate her buoyancy vest or remove weights from her belt. Christina's family was outraged with Watson's original sentence, and on Thursday praised Mr Dick's decision to appeal. Watson, an experienced diver, had said in police interviews that novice Christina started having trouble a few minutes into their dive. He said he decided to go for help rather than attempt a rescue himself. A fellow diver told an inquest last year he saw Watson engaged in an underwater "bear hug" with his petite wife, after which he headed to the surface while she sank to the ocean floor. Watson told police his wife knocked his mask off and then sank too quickly for him to retrieve her. Linda Nelson, a lawyer representing both families, said: "The families are keen to avoid the possibility of similar accidents. They feel representations should be made to those in charge of the maintenance of the wreck. "They feel representations should also be made to the Ministry of Defence who carry out dumping of dredged silt in the area to see if anything can be done, although no fingers are being wagged at all." The National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth sent a letter to the coroner in which it said thousands of divers of all abilities had explored the wreck without any problems. | 
