British sailor killed while trying to defend his wife

A British sailor was murdered after attackers boarded his yacht moored off St Lucia on Friday.

Roger Pratt, 62 was killed and his wife Margaret was injured in the attack. His sister-in-law Jenny Riley told the BBC it was a ‘shocking and tragic end’ to the couple’s retirement dream of sailing around the Caribbean.

A post-mortem revealed Mr Pratt was bludgeoned and drowned. He was believed to have been killed while trying to protect his wife. Three men have been detained over the attack.

Mrs Riley said Mr Pratt had been preparing for years for the voyage and that the couple had planned to set sail again a day before the tragedy but were delayed by a bureaucratic hold-up.

“It’s a shocking and tragic end to their dream and we’re all coming to terms with it as best we can,” Mrs Riley said.

“Margaret’s life has been turned upside down.”

Roger’s dream

She added: “They had been planning the trip for years and sailing across the Atlantic to explore the Caribbean was Roger’s dream.

“They were both experienced sailors and had sailed dinghies and keelboats since they were children.”

St Lucia police said officers were called to reports of a robbery on the Pratts’ yacht, the Magnetic Attraction, while it was moored in Vieux Fort on the island’s south coast.

“Margaret went in search of her husband and found him floating in the nearby waters,” a police spokesman said.