BRITAIN: A spurned husband deliberately scuttled the luxury yacht he and his wife owned after she offered it for sale at a cut price.
The man, reportedly called Mark Bridgwood, smashed open valves below the water line to sink the boat in Dartmouth harbour in south Devon on Friday night.
He allegedly used an axe to destroy the seacock, the device that pumps water from the engine. All that remained above water of the 10.66m (35ft) fibreglass ketch, named Rebel, was its twin masts.
Mr Bridgwood (49) was said to have been incensed that estranged wife Tracey had put the £100,000 boat up for sale at the knockdown price of £40,000.
Ms Bridgwood (42), a waitress at a Dartmouth hotel, said they had used the yacht to sail around the Mediterranean and as a family home. "I've got nothing to lose any more. All I've got is at the bottom of the river," she told the Daily Mail.
"It was a beautiful boat - and he sunk it. What more can I say? I am really p***** off. There was an argument between us, but if you want to know why he did it you'll have to ask him."
She advertised the yacht last week in the Torquay-based Herald Express for a "quick sale".
A team of salvage divers worked yesterday to lift the vessel from the bed of the river.
Capt David White, the Dartmouth harbour master said Mr Bridgwood would be sent a bill for the cost of recovering the yacht from the river bed, which is expected to run into five figures.
Capt White said: "It is a snip at £40,000. It has got air conditioning, a washing machine and modern navigation equipment - it is a comfortable family boat."
Although the scuppered yacht is not blocking the navigation channel along the River Dart, it is in the way of a berth reserved for a Royal Navy warship. - (PA)