Horror in Corfu as expat mum of four is killed by speedboat
Police quiz 3 young Britons
THREE Britons were questioned in Corfu yesterday over the death of a mother of four killed by a speedboat while swimming in an idyllic bay.
Claire Glatman, 60, suffered horrific injuries when she was run over by the boat during her daily morning swim.
The boat, which was earlier seen zig-zagging along the waves, failed to stop and sped off out to sea as beachgoers rushed to reach Mrs Glatman, local media said.
Mrs Glatman, a charity fundraiser, was pulled from the water at Avlaki Bay by the coastguard and taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
She and husband Mark, 64, a millionaire businessman, own a villa near the beach where the tragedy happened and spend several months a year there.
One of their daughters is on holiday with them and is said to have helped identify the body with her devastated father.
Yesterday, Greek authorities were investigating the tragedy and questioning three ‘young English nationals’, aged between 20 and 30, whose families also have villas on the island.
Mrs Glatman was killed at 10am on Monday. A speedboat found abandoned that afternoon on a beach at Agios Stefanos, on the opposite side of the island, has been seized and examined by Port Authority investigators. Local media reported that a second speedboat had also been seized.
The Glatmans, who have two sons and two daughters, were said to be popular and well known among the island's wealthy expat community. They bought the villa seven years ago.
Mrs Glatman was swimming well away from the beach at Avlaki when the speedboat, possibly tow-ing a waterskier, hit her.
Coroner Ioannis Aivatidis said she suffered multiple injuries to her left wrist, arm, chest, pelvis and upper right leg, adding that she had been hit hard by the speedboat, and died after just a few moments.
Mr Glatman was at their villa when the incident happened.
Friend Bibi Tyszkiewicz wrote on Facebook: 'She was an abso-lutely lovely woman. Very much loved on this island. Thoughts to the family. This is a huge tragedy'
Julie Evans added: 'I'm so, so sorry, my thoughts are with her family, she was a very good and genuinely nice person. God bless,
RIP' The Glatmans' home in the UK is a North Yorkshire manor house, parts of which date back to the 13th century. Residents in the village of Well were also left reeling by the news.
A neighbour said: 'It is dreadful news. She loved Corfu and they spent a lot of time there, but she was also a popular person around Well. I knew her as a beautiful soul, friendly and very young at heart.' Another villager said: 'What a horrible thing to happen. My thoughts are with Mark and the rest of the family'
Mr Glatman, a solicitor, runs a property development group. He set up the Abstract group of com-panies, now worth in excess of £80 million, 20 years ago and was named 2007 Property Entrepre-neur of the Year.
No-one from the family was available for comment yesterday.
The dangers posed by speed-boats are well known around Corfu. Swimmers are supposed to stay within 220 yards of the shore and speedboats should only approach shore at low speed.
The Foreign Office said it was in contact with the local authorities following the death.