Robbers kill Staffordshire sailor on holiday of a lifetime
A Staffordshire businessman has been murdered while defending his wife from attackers who boarded his boat off the island of St Lucia.
Roger Pratt, aged 62, died after attackers boarded his boat while it was moored near the town of Vieux Fort. He was found floating in the water.
His wife Margaret was taken to hospital after being injured on Friday night. Three people have been held by police.
Mr Pratt and his wife, from Moreton Morrell in Warwickshire, ran Okra Associates, a financial consultancy firm based at Harance House, Rumer Hill Road, in Cannock. They were on a long-planned round-the-world holiday, and the couple celebrated Margaret's 60th birthday just days before the tragedy.
They had planned to set sail for the next stage of their journey the day before the attack, but were prevented from leaving by a bureaucratic hold up.
Mrs Pratt's sister Jenny Riley, a teacher from Beccles, in Suffolk, said the family had been left 'totally shocked and shattered' by the news.
She said that Mr Pratt had been preparing for the long voyage for many years, and as an engineer had been meticulous in his attention to detail and was extremely safety conscious. "They had gained deep sea sailing experience by cruising extensively on the south coast and around Europe," she said.
"To sail across the Atlantic and explore the Caribbean was Roger's dream.
"They were both experienced sailors and had sailed dinghies and keel boats since they were children. It is a tragic, shattering end to their dream."
Mrs Pratt was taken to hospital following the attack but has now been discharged and has returned to the couple's yacht, Mrs Riley said.
Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding what happened.
St Lucia Police said officers were called to reports of a robbery on the Pratts' yacht, the Magnetic Attraction, while moored in Vieux Fort on the island's south coast at about midnight. A statement said: "Officers received information three armed men had boarded the vessel, and attacked and injured the occupants before they fled.
"Within minutes of the robbers fleeing, Margaret went in search of her husband and found him floating in the nearby waters.
"Roger was retrieved and transported to St Jude Hospital via ambulance along with his wife."
Neighbours of the Pratts in the hamlet of Moreton Paddox near Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, expressed shock and disbelief at the news, describing the couple as friendly and keen sailors.
Lavinia O'Shaughnessy, who has known the couple for 15 years, said: "I just feel really upset, because for something like that to happen to people who are so very nice is terrible."
In a statement the Royal Norfolk & Suffolk Yacht Club said it was "stunned and saddened" to hear of the death of Mr Pratt, one of its members.
Prayers were also said for the couple at the parish church.
The vicar, the Rev John Parker, said: "They set off on the experience of a lifetime only for them to have been set upon, it seems, by robbers in a crime that appears to have gone horribly wrong."
Mrs Pratt previously worked with Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group.
David Evans, chief executive officer for the CCG took to Twitter to pay his respects, he said: "Very very sad news about Margaret and Roger Pratt. We have benefited hugely from Margaret's advice over the years."
Mr and Mrs Pratt, who were both highly-experienced sailors, set off on their global journey from Lowestoft in July last year, keeping family and friends back home updated on their progress through an online blog.
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