Monday, June 1, 2015

ROYAL NAVY SAILOR FOUND DEAD IN SEYCHELLES

Foul play suspected in death in Victoria

Just a few hours after the visiting British Royal Navy frigate HMS Richmond welcomed President Michel and other guests to celebrate the Queen’s birthday on Friday, one of its crewmembers, a 23 year-old Royal Navy sailor, was found dead in Victoria.


His body was discovered behind the National Library, at the ex-children’s playground, by an unknown man at around 6.45am. He then proceeded to alert the police. The circumstances of the death are as yet unclear but police spokesperson Jean Toussaint said that they are treating the death as suspicious.

The man was wearing a light blue shirt and blue jeans at the time of death. He was barefoot and, puzzlingly, his shoes and socks were placed next to him. The posture of the body almost suggested that he was asleep, with one arm on his chest and the other bent at the elbow.

The police also say that there was no “visual” evidence that foul play was involved but that the sheer unnaturalness of the discovery is what is making them treat the death as suspicious.

Matthew Harper from the British High Commission has confirmed that the 23 year-old was serving on HMS Richmond and said that his family in England had already been notified of the death.
HMS Richmond is set to leave Seychelles on Tuesday.


The strange circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body are reminiscent of the death of two security officers on board the Maersk Alabama while it was docked in Victoria last year. After a night out in town, the two men were found dead in their cabin. It was later established that they had overdosed but the people who last saw them before their death - they spent the night at the casino in town - were never identified.

Likewise, little is known about where the British sailor went before his death and who he was with. The police are expected to question other members of the crew of HMS Richmond to try and retrace the 23 year-old’s movements before his death.



In the meantime, it is hoped that the CCTV cameras in town will assist the police in their investigation. Questions however are being asked about whether the police still conduct patrols in town in the evening and the early hours of the morning and whether the patrols should not be more regular, especially on end-of-month weekends.

Source:Today in Seychelles