I was woken by an intruder at about 23.00 on Thursday 6th December 2012. Thank God for squeaky floorboards!!!!. I was sleeping in the fore-cabin and could see the shape of someone in the saloon.

I jumped up and turned on a light and grabbed a knife from galley (I washed the dishes last thing but left them all to drain in the galley sink….top of the pile was a large knife!!) He had a small object which I assumed was a knife in his hand and a towel or cloth over his head and was demanding money, “where’s the money”, repeated several times. I told him to get off the boat and he came towards me and we tussled.

I was really angry and we ended up kind of dancing around the saloon. Him trying to get out and me trying to catch him. I suppose when faced with a ‘not so docile’  victim he had a change of heart. He eventually ran over the table and up, out of the companionway, leaving a trail of blood across the saloon table and up the steps. There was blood also in the cockpit and on the dinghy.

His accomplice was in a dinghy near the stern and he scrambled over my dinghy  (up on its davits) and into a hard ‘dory’ type craft which they paddled over towards the tennis courts (there is a new slip there for dinghies).

I went onto the pier and tried to take a photograph, but it was too dark and the flash did not carry. I raised the alarm at the West Point Bar. The barman called the police and marina security who eventually showed up.

Colin Thomas

Update 18 December: A suspect has been remanded in custody with no bail until a court date in April.

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