Man dies on Isles of Scilly after Border Agency raid on moored yacht

Headline sounds very alarming, but reading the story I can't see that the two aspects were connected.

Looks to me like UKBA come on board in the morning, check his paperwork, and go on their way. After a spot of lunch, he decides to fix that dodgy masthead light / VHF antenna / etc, climbs up the mast, and falls off due to failed gear or poor rigging.

Awaiting further information but so far, while I'm no fan of the UKBA, trying to relate them to the accident seems disingenuous. They might as well say "Man dies of head injuries after buying breakfast croissants from Suzy's Bakery".

EDIT: The further information has arrived. Clearly it was related to the UKBA after all.

Pete
 
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prv said:
Headline sounds very alarming, but reading the story I can't see that the two aspects were connected.
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But the BBC website says:

A spokesperson said the police investigation would focus on how the man came to fall from the mast.

He said he believed Border Force, formerly known as the UK Border Agency, had been there at the time
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Police are investigating a chase by UK Border Agency and Customs officers which ended when a yachtsmen was seriously injured with multiple head wounds.

The yachtsman was trying to escape from officers and scaled the mast of a yacht alongside St Mary's Quay, in the Isles of Scilly. He then leapt from aloft and hit the quay.

A helicopter from RNAS Culdrose flew him to Treliske Hospital in Cornwall for treatment where his condition is serious.



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lenseman said:
Police are investigating a chase by UK Border Agency and Customs officers which ended when a yachtsmen was seriously injured with multiple head wounds.

The yachtsman was trying to escape from officers and scaled the mast of a yacht alongside St Mary's Quay, in the Isles of Scilly. He then leapt from aloft and hit the quay.

A helicopter from RNAS Culdrose flew him to Treliske Hospital in Cornwall for treatment where his condition is serious.
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Perhaps he had been watching too many of those TV dramas in which someone trying to escape keeps running up staircases until they reach the roof and then, surprise, surprise, find there is then no-where to go but down!

Mike.
 
mjcoon said:
Perhaps he had been watching too many of those TV dramas in which someone trying to escape keeps running up staircases until they reach the roof and then, surprise, surprise, find there is then no-where to go but down!

Mike.
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Sounds like he forgot that he had left the breakfast croissants from Suzy's Bakery on the quay and it was a leap of faith?



.
 
lenseman said:
Police are investigating a chase by UK Border Agency and Customs officers which ended when a yachtsmen was seriously injured with multiple head wounds.

The yachtsman was trying to escape from officers and scaled the mast of a yacht alongside St Mary's Quay, in the Isles of Scilly. He then leapt from aloft and hit the quay.
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Ah, ok, that'll be the further information I was waiting for, then.

Angele said:
But the BBC website says:
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Hadn't seen the BBC site when I wrote my post.

Pete
 
Poor bloke. And a Dutchman,why should UKBA want anything to do with him? Probly a tragic accident but it would be no surprise if a fat ignorant civil servant in a nice tight black uniform had too much testosterone for breakfast,and freaked the guy out,
We will probably never know.
 
The UKBA Border Force has virtually the same powers as the police without the same training, traditions, command structures, regulatory oversight or levels of accountability. From personal experience and observation both first-hand and in watching some of the fly-on-the-wall documentaries on TV the impression they give is of a bunch of thick, abusive thugs- and this is when they know they are being observed. We don't know the facts of this case, but given the history of investigations into other deaths where the UKBA has been implicated and their ongoing involvement in the abuse of detainees, both adults and most appalingy children, we can't have confidence that the full facts of this case will emerge speedily, if at all.
 
I've only a lightweight understanding of what happened...but how on earth could anybody think that climbing the mast would be an escape-option?
 
If at low tide beside a tall quay, one might climb the mast (presumably with steps?) in an attempt to then jump onto the quay and avoid the civil servant in the black drysuit and helmet blocking the foot of the ladder.

Pete
 
prv said:
If at low tide beside a tall quay, one might climb the mast (presumably with steps?) in an attempt to then jump onto the quay and avoid the civil servant in the black drysuit and helmet blocking the foot of the ladder.

Pete
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He must have been very keen to get away.
 
prv said:
If at low tide beside a tall quay, one might climb the mast (presumably with steps?) in an attempt to then jump onto the quay and avoid the civil servant in the black drysuit and helmet blocking the foot of the ladder.
Click to expand...

That had occurred to me...a bit Errol Flynn though.
 
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