Man guilty over woman's speedboat death in Corfu

A man has been found guilty of negligent manslaughter following the death of a British woman who was hit by a speedboat in Greece.

Claire Glatman, 60, who lived near Bedale in North Yorkshire, was fatally injured at Avlaki Beach, on the north-east of Corfu, in 2020.

On Wednesday, Charalampos Karbouris, 51, who had denied the charge and claimed others had driven the speedboat, was handed a three-year sentence, suspended for three years, at the island's Three-Member Court of Misdemeanours.

Mrs Glatman's family said the defendant's failure to take responsibility had caused them further distress and denied them "the closure that his conviction now brings".

Karbouris, who was not present in court and was represented by his lawyer, had claimed the speedboat was driven by a group of young people rather than himself.

However, the court ruled that his claims were contradicted by the testimonies of four witnesses - three of whom were passengers on a nearby boat - as well as video footage from a CCTV camera.

At the time of the incident, the Greek coastguard reported that Mrs Glatman's body "bore obvious signs of being hit by a boat propeller".

A post-mortem examination later confirmed that she had died from severe bleeding and multiple injuries.

In a statement following the verdict, Mrs Glatman's family said Karbouris had taken advantage of "our good nature" and "hindered authorities and their investigations".

"Rather than take responsibility himself, he sought to wrongfully implicate others, including innocent young adults who had to relive the horror of what they saw that day," the statement read.

"In his conduct as a defendant, Mr Karbouris repeatedly delayed the course of justice and denied us the closure that his conviction now brings.

"It made returning to Corfu and attending court over the last few weeks even more difficult for our family."

Mrs Glatman's family said they were grateful for the verdict reached by the court and remained thankful for "the respect shown for our family's grief and privacy".

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