If I was on a ship with him I’d get off any way I could
Ex of ‘cruise jumper’s’ boyfriend
THE woman said to have jumped from a cruise ship after a drunken row with her boyfriend, has been given some sympathy – by his estranged wife.
Kay Longstaff was rescued after 10 hours treading water, 60 miles from land. She insists she fell. Kelly Rayment married Craig, 43, in Gibraltar in 2014 but split with the electrician after their volatile relationship fell apart.
She said: “If I was on a ship with him I would get off any way I could.”
The mum-of-two, 38, added: “Craig’s not a very nice person when he’s been drinking.
“So him going on a cruise is a recipe for disaster. I can imagine what she went through.”
Kelly had been married to Craig for a year when they moved to Spain’s Costa del Sol. But she left him after constant rows and they are now in the process of divorcing.
She added: “I’m proud of myself for building up the courage to leave him and saying no when he begged me to come back.”
Kelly, who has sons aged 14 and 21 from a previous relationship, met Craig when she was a barmaid in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
She says she passed a warning to Kay, 46, after the flight attendant began dating Craig last year. Passengers on the Norwegian Star, on a cruise in the Adriatic Sea, say Kay and Craig had a drunken row before Kay plunged from the seventh deck on Saturday night. CCTV shows her alone at the time.
Kay was finally rescued by a Croatian coast guard vessel on Sunday morning.
The couple moved in together last November and are said to be living near Marbella.
They spent Monday night together in Venice, where the liner docked. Local police are understood to have spoken to Craig.
The mum of Norwegian Cruise Line president Andy Stuart claims Kay’s “jump” cost the firm £465,000. But Kay’s dad, ex-cop Ron Longstaff, denies his daughter had been “troubled” recently.
He said: “That’s rubbish. I was sitting in the sun with her a few weeks ago. She’s a heroine for surviving 10 hours in the sea.
“I’m sure she was expecting to die but she kept alive by floating and not swimming.”
Craig did not respond to requests from the Daily Mirror for comment yesterday.
Him going on a cruise is a recipe for disaster KELLY RAYMENT EX-WIFE OF CRAIG