Killed yachtsman 'lived his dream'

Three Burmese migrants have been accused of slitting Malcolm Robertson's throat and throwing his body overboard when they raided his yacht as he sailed with wife Linda off the Andaman sea coast.

Mrs Robertson, 57, who was tied up by the attackers, said they behaved like they were having a picnic after killing her husband.

"It was such a banal situation because it was like three boys having a picnic. They were eating food, they were laughing and joking. The younger boy was playing on my mobile," she told the BBC News channel.

"They certainly weren't professional... and thank God they weren't because I'm here to tell the story and to be with my family."

She said she knew in her heart her husband had resisted the raiders.

"He was not the sort of man who would just sit back and let something happen. I wish really he had been. The fact that he tried to get them off the boat was the mistake."

As she spoke, Mrs Robertson was comforted by her children. The couple, who had been married for 25 years, each had two children from previous relationships and had seven grandchildren between them.

All four children travelled to Thailand to offer their support to Mrs Robertson, who escaped with minor injuries. She paid tribute to Mr Robertson, 64, who owned a chain of coffee shops in and around his home town of Hastings, East Sussex.

"Malcom was unique. He was a wonderful, caring man. He wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination but we all loved him."