Horror in Paradise

[noodles]

Did anyone hear of this story

 

Sad and bloody disgraceful and my thoughts go out to Lindy and family

 

This happened about 50NM from where a friend is planning on basing himself when the boat goes in.

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2...15875-21226127/

 

HORROR IN PARADISE

 

 

By Euan Stretch 25/03/2009

 

EXCLUSIVE Brit killed and thrown off yacht by pirate trio

 

Devastated Lindy Robertson told yesterday how she was tied up naked and kept prisoner for 12 hours by pirates who murdered her husband and threw his body off their yacht.

 

The three killers boarded Lindy and Malcolm's boat as it lay anchored off an island near the coast of Thailand and were trying to steal its dinghy when the British man confronted them.

 

Lindy, who is recovering in a Thai hospital, yesterday rang home to tell brother John Clee how she lay in bed on the yacht listening in horror as 64-year-old Malcolm tried to fight off the attackers.

 

She sobbed: "They've murdered Malcolm. I know they've murdered him."

 

John said Lindy and Malcolm had been sleeping in separate cabins because the night was so unbearably hot. He added: "Lindy heard a commotion and shouted for Malcolm.

 

"Then she heard him go up on deck and shout for people to get off the boat. There was a skirmish and she heard a splosh before it went deadly silent. She lay in terror and three of them came in and tied her up. She was naked so it was especially horrific. They kept her prisoner for eight to 12 hours, only untying her enough to make her sail the boat when they needed her, then tying her up again.

 

"All the time she was convinced Malcolm was dead and they were going to do her in when they had finished with her."

 

The pirates, who spoke no English, let the yacht drift away from the isle of Koh Dong as they ransacked it.

 

They eventually left the yacht - taking the dinghy that they had loaded with valuables, including a laptop and a camera.

 

As soon as they had gone Lindy, 58, from St Leonards, East Sussex, made for a nearby fishing boat and raised the alarm. John said: "She knew she could easily outrun the pirates.

 

"Lindy was able to tell police exactly which direction the pirates had taken off in. The launch was so slow they wouldn't have got far so officers soon caught up in their boat and arrested them. One of the worst bits for Lindy was having to come back in the same police boat as the pirates."

 

Three migrant fishermen from Burma were yesterday being questioned on suspicion of murdering Malcolm, a retired businessman. They are reported to have confessed to punching him and beating him with a hammer on Monday night.

 

When he yelled for help they allegedly cut his throat and bundled him overboard. No body has yet been found. Colonel Virat Ohn-song of the Thai police said: "They tried to steal the dinghy and beat Mr Robertson with their fists and hammers until he died. We believe from our interview with his wife that Mr. Robertson was dead before he was thrown into the water.

 

"This is very bad. Very bad. There was a lot of blood in the boat's main cabin where the struggle took place."

 

Malcolm and Lindy were on the last leg of a round-the-world yachting adventure that began more than a decade ago.

 

full listing here, the story seems to have been kept quiet in Thai media.

 

google

[primos]

Wow, that's bad news. Makes you think.

[LaaMok]

I heard about that but didnt read the article, thanks for the link/info

[RedRackam]

Careful, some get shirty here if people critisise the thais or knock anything thai related.

[noodles]

full listing here, the story seems to have been kept quiet in Thai media.

 

Ok just found some info on the Phuket Gazette

 

Original story:

Burmese trio confess to killing British sailor

 

 

PHUKET: Three Burmese men arrested in Satun Tuesday have confessed to the murder of a British man aboard a sailboat.

 

On Monday night, British couple Malcolm Stuart Robertson and his wife Linda Anne Robertson were resting in separate cabins of their 13-meter sailboat Mr Bean when they were attacked, La-Ngu Police Captain Suppaluk Chatayaporn told the Gazette.

 

At the time of the attack, Mr Bean was anchored off Dong Island, some 75km from mainland.

 

Mr Robertson, 64, was killed and his body thrown overboard.

 

Mrs Robertson, 60, was rescued by police and national park rangers the following day when they discovered the couple’s yacht adrift some 2km north of Khao Yai Island.

 

Mrs Robertson, who suffered minor injuries after being beaten and tied to the mast of the vessel, was taken to La-Ngu Hospital for treatment.

 

The semi-retired couple, who had sailed in the region before, were on their way from Phuket to Malaysia’s Langkawi Island, where they planned to leave their yacht and fly back to the UK.

 

Immigration records showed the couple registered their arrival in Phuket on January 12 and departed March 9.

 

Mrs Robertson told police that on the night of the attack she was sleeping in her cabin when she heard a sudden commotion above.

 

There are conflicting media reports as to whether Mrs Robertson was discovered by the pirates below deck or whether she came up on her own.

 

“Then they went towards the forward cabin and I heard my husband shouting ‘Get off my boat’. I heard a scuffle and did not hear any more,” the London Evening Standard quoted her as saying.

 

According to police, Mrs Robertson was tied to the mast as the pirates sailed the yacht towards the mainland.

 

On Tuesday fishermen noticed Mr Bean about 60km from the mainland and suspected something strange was happening.

 

They reported what they saw to Tarutao National Park rangers, who alerted police. When police and rangers approached the yacht 2km north of Khao Yai Island at about 10.30am, the pirates fled in Mr Bean’s inflatable dingy.

 

Police intercepted the inflatable and arrested them, seizing binoculars, a large knife, a hammer and two laptops belonging to the couple.

 

The suspects claimed to be fishermen who had been working on a trawler named Vichai 6. They were identified by police only as Mr Ao, 19, Mr Go, 20, and Mr X, 18.

 

Mr X admitted to killing Mr Robertson with the hammer found in the inflatable. However, he claimed they did not intend to kill Mr Robertson, only to steal the dingy to get to the mainland, Capt. Suppaluk said.

 

The trio had escaped from harsh and abusive conditions aboard Vichai 6 and had been hiding out on Koh Dong, where they ran out of food. When they spotted Mr and Mrs Robertson’s boat offshore, they waited until the lights dimmed and swam out, the youth said.

 

Mrs Robertson is recovering in La-Ngu Hospital and relatives are on their way to Thailand to be with her.

 

Her husband’s body has not yet been recovered.

 

Latest update:

Slain Briton's body recovered

 

 

PHUKET CITY: After days of searching, the body of slain British sailor Malcolm Robertson was recovered by fishermen about 10 nautical miles north of Satun’s Lipeh Island at about 3pm today.

 

A source in the Marine Police said the fishermen are now bringing Mr Robertson’s remains by boat to Tu Tae Lam Pier in Satun’s La-Ngu District, where it is expected to arrive at about 7pm tonight.

 

Officials monitoring the case say a report on Friday that the missing man’s body had been found was incorrect – only debris from the yacht had been seen.

 

Three Burmese men, aged 17, 18 and 19, have said they climbed on to the Robertsons’ yacht because they were starving after fleeing to a nearby island from rough conditions on a Thai fishing vessel.

 

For the original report, click here.

 

The discovery of the body diminishes the chance that the youths will be able to avoid murder charges and possible death sentences.

 

They claim they went two days without food and were challenged by Robertson while desperately searching his yacht for food.

 

The eldest of the three reportedly confessed to both Thai police and a British photographer that he killed Robertson with a hammer after a struggle, then lowered the Englishman’s body into the sea.

 

The man’s wife, Linda Robertson, confirmed the identity of the attackers and gave testimony in local courts on Friday.

 

Mrs Robertson was tied up during the ordeal, but managed to haul in the anchor and motor away to safety after the Burmese men left in a dinghy on Tuesday morning, about 10 hours after sneaking on board.

 

In an interview by phone, she expressed relief yesterday that the trio had been caught so swiftly by the police, whose efforts she lauded.

 

She said she certainly felt the youngest of the Burmese was anguished about her husband’s death, but she was not sure if the older pair were as remorseful as they said. But she felt it was "irrelevant" if they faced a murder charge or manslaughter, as “it wouldn’t bring Malcolm back”.

 

She and her husband left the UK 10 years ago to sail around the world, but “loved Thailand so much” they remained here for three years. On Saturday, she and the couple's four children, all in their 30s, held a service on the yacht Mr Bean to remember Malcolm.

 

“The family are with me, and that is a huge difference,” she said, adding that the service brought out laughter, as well as tears. “I wasn’t quite as horrified to be on the boat as I thought I’d be,” she said.

[Zieke Reiger]

do they still hang people in thailand? would suit these guys...