AMSTERDAM: Cocaine worth millions of pounds was found on a yacht in the South West after the skipper jumped to his death, an inquest heard.
Border Force officers found 120kgs of the drug – estimated to be worth between £8.3m and £18m – after Christiaan Woestenburg died. The 62-year-old skipper from the Netherlands had jumped 30ft to his death from the vessel’s mast during a UK Border Force team had boarded the 36ft yacht.
Isles of Scilly boatman Ryan Sloane, who saw Mr Woestenburg climb up the mast during the raid on 17 June 2013, told the inquest he “jumped intentionally”.
Sutton says the net profit after tax of $338 million, which was up 6 per cent, was in keeping with consensus earnings forecasts. But it is clear from the 2 per cent fall in BoQ shares that the market was disappointed with the result. One of four Border Force officers on board shouted “He’s doing a runner”, as Mr Woestenburg climbed the mast, he said.
A pathologist told the inquest in Plymouth, Devon, that Mr Woestenburg died of head, chest and pelvic injuries. The inquest jury was shown police pictures of the packages containing drugs – which were found in the yacht’s water tank under the cockpit floor.
Mark Chapman, a Border Force officer who specialised in the valuation of imported drugs, told the inquest that 124 packages of suspected cocaine were found in the freshwater tank of the Windrose – weighing an approximate total of 124kg. He explained how estimated values looked at wholesale and ‘street’ values.
The yacht – named Windrose – had been towed to the islands by the RNLI after Mr Woestenburg, who was sailing single-handed, reported he was suffering from fatigue and his boat’s rigging was failing.
Mr Woestenburg’s brother, Otto, told the the inquest that the skipper was “anti-drugs”. The death of a yachtsman who appeared to jump 30ft from the top of a mast was an “extreme” and “very unusual” incident, according to a senior Border Force officer.
Speaking at the inquest into the death of Christiaan Woestenburg, David Robertson was asked whether he had ever known any other “self-harm” episodes of this kind.
“There was one many years ago, but I don’t think it was self-harm,” Mr Robertson said. “The individual set fire to his vessel and jumped into the water, but that was an attempt to destroy evidence.
