Bludgeoned and thrown to the sea – the horrific end to dream life

Published on Tuesday 24 March 2009 21:03

A BRITISH yachtsman has been bludgeoned to death by pirates and his body thrown over- board off the south coast of Thailand.

Malcolm Robertson was beaten with a hammer before his body was tossed into the Andaman Sea after three men boarded his yacht, Mr Bean.

The 64-year-old, who has spent the past decade sailing around the world with his wife, Linda, was attacked on Monday afternoon near Koh Dong, an island about 45 miles west of Satun, a southern province bordering Malaysia.

His wife suffered minor injuries and was being treated in hospital yesterday.

Police said the only apparent motive for the attack was to steal a small dinghy.

Colonel Virat Ohn-song, chief of the La-ngoo district police station, 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."

Three Burmese fisherman have been arrested on suspicion of murdering the yacht skipper. It is believed they were attacked by a mob as they were taken ashore.

Police said the migrant workers had confessed to killing Mr Robertson after he caught them climbing on to his moored yacht in an attempt to steal the dinghy. When he shouted for help, they beat him and cut his throat before throwing his body overboard.

The attackers then tried to flee in the dinghy as another boat approached.

Mr Robertson's 58-year-old wife, who is known as Lindy, is thought to have been locked in a cabin by the pirates while her husband was set upon.

When she managed to get out, she discovered blood on the deck but no sign of her husband. She then flagged down a passing ship. Mrs Robertson is reported to have told the Thai authorities: "They wanted the dinghy and started hitting Malc about the head."

The Royal Thai Navy carried out a search of the waters, but it was called off on Monday night. Mr Robertson's body has yet to be recovered.

A police spokesman said: "We got a report from a fishing boat, as the tragedy happened offshore.

"We tried our best to help, but the murderers were not locals, they were from outside."

Mrs Robertson was photographed being taken back to land, with Thai officials assisting her as she stepped off the boat. Other photographs showed the retired couple's boat smeared in blood.

Piracy experts said it was unusual for such an attack to take place in the Andaman. Although it was a haven for pirates during the Second World War, it is generally considered safe for tourists.

A spokesman for the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur told The Scotsman that, although the waters had a history of crime, there had been no incidents there in recent years. "For some time, there has been nothing in the Andaman, or anywhere around Thailand," he said.

However, the area is close to where hundreds of Rohingya refugees from Burma try to seek landfall, after fleeing pogroms by the Burmese military junta.

The Thai government has been criticised by human rights organisations for beating up the refugees and sending the Rohingyas back out to sea in rickety boats without engines, and little food or water, leaving them to the mercy of the elements. Many have died.

Last month, the Thai prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, promised to investigate the scandal. But he gave the task to the controversial Internal Security Operations Command, which has been accused of committing the abuses.

Colonel Voradee Karawanont, of Satun police, suggested the safety of the seas might have to be reassessed following the attack on the Robertsons.

"We think in the future we will have more measures to make sure nothing like this happens again," he said.

The Robertsons, from St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, were frequent visitors to the region and had sailed around Thailand four times in as many years.

On a internet sailing blog, the couple have posted regular updates about their trips around the world since setting sail from Eastbourne in the summer of 1998.

Mr Robertson offered a self-effacing description of his captaincy of the 44ft yacht, calling himself "Mr Bean at Sea". His wife, meanwhile, was dubbed "Admiral Lindy".

The couple regularly welcomed friends and family from England, including their children and grandchildren, to spent time on the boat, and they had many friends among the sailing community.

They occasionally returned home but viewed their retirement as an opportunity to see the world.

As well as travelling around Thailand, they had sailed the Mediterranean, Caribbean and South Pacific, and visited the Panama Canal, New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu and Australia.

In one blog entry, Mr Robertson wrote: "We have loved every moment of the trip." In another post, in September 2007, he wrote: "Still the excitement is there after nine years."

In 2007, Mr Robertson put Mr Bean up for sail, but it is understood he and his wife had a change of heart and decided to continue travelling.

They had planned to leave Phuket in Thailand next January, before "making the most" of the islands in the Indian Ocean. The couple had told how they hoped to "get some yachties together" for a "loose rally", before chartering their 330,000 yacht through the Red Sea, on to Kochi, India, the Maldives, Chagos and the Seychelles.

The Robertsons' next of kin have been informed about the murder, and family members were on their way to Thailand yesterday.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office confirmed it was investigating the disappearance of a British man, and was "urgently pursuing the case" with Thai police.

She said: "A British couple were attacked while sailing off the coast of Satun, southern Thailand. Our consular team in Bangkok is in touch with the next of kin and are providing consular assistance to those involved.

"We are urgently pursuing this case with local police, who are investigating the incident. We understand the Thai police have arrested three suspects."

Thailand is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, luring some 14 million tourists annually, with Britain the biggest western market.