Englishman murdered in Thailand.

Post by **Khundon1975** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:37 am

English sailor beaten to death on his yacht.

May he rest in peace and condolences to his wife.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7962008.stm

Post by **buksida** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:52 pm

Malcolm Robertson, 64, reportedly had his throat slashed in front of his wife Linda before he was thrown into the sea near Dong island, 70 kilometres off Satun province late on Monday.

Authorities were still searching for his body .

The raiders forced his wife to sail toward land, then escaped in a rubber dinghy after she tried to seek help from a passing official boat, Pol Capt Supalak Pongkanjana said.

Police later arrested the three men, who worked on a fishing boat based nearby, he said.

Pol Capt Supalak said the three had given full confessions but had only been charged with robbery and assault so far as police had not found Robertson's body.

Source: Bangkok Post

Post by **PeteC** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 2:54 pm

BBC world news had it completely different in their TV report with their Bangkok reporter on the scene. Said she was locked below and finally broke out to find her husband gone and the Thai pirates gone. Reported as a robbery gone bad. Pete

Post by **Khundon1975** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 4:08 pm

prcscct wrote:BBC world news had it completely different in their TV report with their Bangkok reporter on the scene. Said she was locked below and finally broke out to find her husband gone and the Thai pirates gone. Reported as a robbery gone bad. Pete

prcscct

Apparently (according to her brother) Mrs Robertson was asleep in a different part of the boat and heard her husband shouting and arguing and when she got on deck there was loads of blood everywhere but no sign of her husband.

She was then made to sail around for a couple of hours with these 3 boys, before they left.
On the BBC news in UK it said "the Robinson's had been cruising for years and were experienced sailors".
I wonder why the 3 accused hung around after, to be caught by the police.

What a terrible thing to happen and once again, it puts Thailand in a bad light, even though the 3 accused are said to come from Burma, it happened in Thai waters.
I fear that with the economic climate getting worse, we may see more of this type of opportunistic crime.

I hope Mrs Robinson is soon reunited with her family, who will be able to help her with her sad loss. They seemed such a happy couple in the pictures they showed.

Post by **Nereus** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:31 pm

By: BangkokPost.com
Published: 27/03/2009 at 02:21 PM

Police on Friday found the body of a UK tourist who was murdered by Burmese workers three days ago off an island in the Andaman Sea during a yacht burglary.

The remains of Malcom Robertson, 64, whose throat was cut and body was thrown into the sea, were found near Rawee island, Pol Col Wirat Saeng-orn, superintendent of the Yala provincial police said.

His wife Linda, who was tied up when her husband was killed, testified in the provincial court Friday because she has to leave Thailand.

Police earlier claimed that the three workers confessed they boarded the yacht on Monday to snatch an inflatable dinghy but were blocked by the owner.

Police alleged the three slashed Mr Robertson's throat and threw his body into the sea. They allegedly forced Mrs Robertson to take them to the mainland, but the yacht was spotted by officials from Koh Petra Marine National Park, who detained them.

Post by **Khundon1975** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:14 pm

Nereus

I watched the BBC news last night and they had a huge search going on to find Mr Robertson's body.

I'm glad they found him, as this can help Mrs Robertson in her grieving process.
Also I did not realise that without the body the 3 accused could not be charged with murder.

Now Mrs Robertson may get to see the perpetrators jailed for life.

Post by **redzonerocker** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 2:30 am

Khundon1975 wrote:
I'm glad they found him, as this can help Mrs Robertson in her grieving process.
Also I did not realise that without the body the 3 accused could not be charged with murder.

Now Mrs Robertson may get to see the perpetrators jailed for life.

apparently it was a false alarm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7967386.stm

Post by **Khundon1975** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 2:38 am

Redzonerocker

How sad for her and her family.

Did the police jump the gun and announce it was her husband, without checking first I wonder?

Poor woman, what she must be going through at this time.

Post by **redzonerocker** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 2:47 am

Khundon1975 wrote:Redzonerocker

How sad for her and her family.

Did the police jump the gun and announce it was her husband, without checking first I wonder?

Poor woman, what she must be going through at this time.

not sure of the full details, but have to agree it's a sad time for her & her family

whether it was the police or media that jumped the gun, it's pretty irresponsible.

Post by **Big Boy** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 4:14 am

The thing that's puzzling me about this is how does she know her husband's throat was cut? From what I've read, her husband went quiet, and when she went up on deck there was a lot of blood.

Post by **Randy Cornhole** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 6:06 am

Apparently they caught the men later on as they were found wearing his clothes...

Post by **margaretcarnes** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 11:18 am

Yesterdays newspaper reports correspond more closely with the version posted by Buksi.
Mrs Robertson was joined in Thailand by her family on Thursday, and is reported as saying that she was tied up by the 3 young Burmese while they joked and ate food, and played with her mobile phone. She is reported as saying that she considers herself lucky that they didn't seem to be professional, otherwise she wouldn't have been left alive either.
The inference is that she didn't in fact see her husband killed. (quote) 'When we were boarded, I knew Malcolm must have felt he had to get these people off the boat and that might have been a mistake.'
A police spokesman says that the 3 youngsters had been working on a nearby trawler and had been 'desperate to get ashore after being forced to work for months with no pay.'
None of which excuses such a brutal crime, but hopefully exposes the use of Burmese slave labour in that area.

Post by **Khundon1975** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:48 pm

Reports in the Phuket gazette say they have now found Mr Robertson's body.

I think I will wait until it is confirmed this time before any more comments.

Post by **Khundon1975** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 7:35 pm

Now confirmed on BBC

Another life taken for a few Baht.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7973212.stm

Post by **lomuamart** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 8:20 am

Thought I'd bring this old thread up again as the murderers have just been sentenced:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/2 ... -yachtsman