Company boss’s wife held on suspicion of murdering daughter, 3
THE wife of a chief executive has been arrested on suspicion of murdering the couple’s three-year-old daughter in their country home.
Bethan Colebourn is thought to have lived with her mother Claire, a teacher 35, in a converted bungalow in Fordingbridge, Hants. Her father is thought to be Michael Colebourn, 37, the chief executive of Trimline, a highly regarded Southampton interiors firm.
The young girl was treated at the bungalow on the edge of the New Forest and then flown by air ambulance to Salisbury District Hospital, Wilts, in a life-threatening condition.
Hampshire Constabulary said the toddler later died at the hospital and a 35-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of her murder on Friday. Friends said they believed the couple had recently separated.
One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said that he had visited the converted bungalow last Christmas for drinks.
He said the Colebourns were both living there at Christmas, but has “not seen much of them since”.
The neighbour added: “I cannot believe what has happened. Claire and Michael were nice people, and they had a lovely little girl called Bethan.
“I was shocked when I saw the ambulances and police cars outside.”
Lindsay Colebourn, 35, Bethan’s aunt who lives in Gillingham, Dorset, said: “It is obviously a devastating time for everyone. That’s really all I can say.
“As her father, Michael is devastated and is on his way to the family home. It’s such a tragic event”
Mr Colebourn graduated from the University of Southampton with an accounting and finance degree in 2003 and joined Trimline in July 2015, according to his Linkedin profile. The company generated revenues of almost £40million in its latest financial year.
A Hampshire Constabulary spokesman said: “A three-year-old girl was taken to Salisbury District Hospital and was pronounced dead later in the evening. A 35-year-old woman from Fordingbridge has been arrested.”