MSC Virtuosa cruise ship 'murder' victim named after death on stag do
James Messham, 60, was reportedly on a stag do when he was killed in an "altercation" on the MSC Virtuosa.
A cruise ship passenger who died after a fight broke out on board has been named as a "lovely" grandad.
James Messham, 60, was reportedly on a stag do when he was killed in an "altercation" on the MSC Virtuosa. The ship set sail from Southampton on Saturday evening for a two-night mini cruise.
It was still in British waters when the man died. Following the incident, the boat u-turned and docked in Southampton, where Hampshire Police boarded and arrested a 57-year-old man on suspicion of murder.
He was released on bail on Tuesday.
Police enquiries are ongoing, and passengers who may have witnessed the incident are being urged to come forward with any information.
The Mirror reports that Mr Messham was with family members who helped him run the Wall of Death, a popular motorcycle stunt show, when he died.
Friends and family have paid tribute to the "lovely gentleman" online, saying Mr Messham was a "great racer" and "one of the best".
Passenger Lynda Hardiman-Pearce, who was on board the ship for the trip to Zebrugge said there were several hen and stag do parties onboard "causing havoc". She told the Southern Daily Echo: 'The cruise was full of hen and stag parties causing chaos.'
She added that a man on board 'told me his son was an army medic and had tried to help by doing CPR on a guy that had collapsed but unfortunately couldn't revive him. Apparently, the man was on a stag do.'
Reports suggested the men involved in the incident were part of a party of 20. Staff on board the MSC Virtuosa are continuing to "cooperate fully" with authorities as the investigation continues.
The MSC Virtuosa returned from Belgium to Southampton on Monday. The vessel is operated by MSC Cruises and has a capacity of 6,334 guests.
A spokesperson for MSC Cruises said: 'Following an incident on board our ship, the relevant authorities were contacted, and we are cooperating fully with their investigations. We are providing full support to those impacted."
A Hampshire Constabulary spokesperson said: "Officers are continuing their inquiries into the death of a 60-year-old man from West Sussex on board the MSC Virtuosa, which happened around 8.30pm on Saturday (May 3). A 57-year-old man arrested as part of our inquiries has been released on bail.
"We remain keen to hear from anyone who was aboard the ship, which had departed Southampton around 6pm on Saturday and was still in British waters at the time."
The Maltese-flagged vessel, built in France in 2020, measures 332m (1,089ft) long and boasts 18 decks, accommodation for up to 6,334 passengers and 1,704 crew. Virtuosa was due to arrive in Southampton at 6:15am and depart at 8pm.
The ship also boasts a 4D cinema, bowling lanes, a casino, a game arcade, and a Formula 1 simulator. Passengers can also visit a theatre hosting Broadway-style productions, as well as a lounge featuring Carousel Productions at Sea shows.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
British sailor arrested 'after throwing girlfriend who couldn't swim into river'
A British yachtsman has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly throwing his girlfriend who could not swim into a Portuguese river. The 60-year-old sailor was accused of abandoning the scene as his partner started to drown. After the crew of another boat saw her in distress, she was rescued and taken to hospital. The drama occurred on the River Tagus off the town of Oeiras in the western part of Lisbon's metropolitan area. The unnamed Brit was tracked down and arrested and remanded in custody pending an ongoing criminal investigation after being hauled before a judge. He is continuing to be probed on suspicion of domestic violence and attempted homicide. The woman, who has been described as a foreigner and is also thought to be British, although police haven't released her nationality, was hospitalised after the incident. Her current condition is not known. Public prosecutors told local press the couple had started dating around a year ago and had lived together in the yacht owned by the man who has been arrested since December last year. One told respected Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha the British skipper allegedly 'threw his victim into the river during a row' before abandoning the scene on his yacht 'knowing she couldn't swim.' Maritime Police intercepted the suspect before he was formally arrested by officers from Portugal's PSP police force. More Trending The arrest is understood to have happened hours after the May 30 incident. The yacht has been seized by investigators. Portuguese police could not be reached early this morning for a formal comment. The Tagus is the longest river in the Iberian peninsula. It rises in the Sierra de Albarracin in eastern Spain, about 90 miles from the Mediterranean coast, and flows westward across Spain and Portugal for 626 miles to empty into the Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: 'Hawaii of Europe's' breathtaking capital gets new £39 easyJet flights from UK MORE: Madeleine McCann searches called to a halt after three days MORE: Your favourite places to eat in Europe that aren't the usual tourist traps
Scotsman
2 hours ago
- Scotsman
The 10 richest people in the UK in June 2025
Discover the stories behind the UK's top billionaires 💼 Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The UK's wealthiest individuals come from varied sectors including finance, technology, real estate, and manufacturing These billionaires have amassed fortunes through founding and leading major companies, innovative investments, and strategic business moves The list includes hedge fund founders, tech entrepreneurs, industrial giants, and property investors shaping the UK economy Several have international ties, reflecting the global nature of their businesses and investments Their combined influence extends beyond wealth, impacting industries, sports, and philanthropy across the UK and worldwide The UK is home to some of the world's most influential and wealthiest individuals, spanning diverse industries from finance and technology to real estate and manufacturing. These 10 billionaires have built their fortunes through innovation, strategic investments, and leadership of major global enterprises. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad From hedge fund pioneers and tech disruptors to industrial magnates and property moguls, this list highlights the UK's top wealth holders, showcasing their achievements, business empires, and impact on both the national and global stage. 10. Joe Lewis ($7 billion/£5.2 billion) (Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) | Getty Images In January 2024, Joe Lewis pled guilty to insider trading for sharing confidential information with his pilots and an ex-girlfriend. He was sentenced to three years probation and fined $5 million. He is currently living on his yacht, Aviva, in the Bahamas. Lewis owns the Tavistock Group, which holds over 200 assets across 13 countries. As a result of his conviction, he is expected to resign from board positions in U.S.-listed public companies and relinquish some ownership stakes. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Through Tavistock, Lewis owns Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur and holds a stake in UK pub operator Mitchells & Butlers. Born above a pub in London's East End, Lewis helped his family grow a catering business before selling it and becoming a currency trader. 9. Alexander Gerko ($7.5 billion/£5.5 billion) Alexander Gerko, a former FX quant trader at Deutsche Bank and head of FX trading at GSA Capital, founded the algorithmic trading firm XTX Markets in 2015. He now serves as Co-CEO of XTX, which reported record profits in 2021 and became the top provider of emerging market FX in 2022. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Originally from Russia, Gerko has lived and worked in the U.K. since 2006 and holds British citizenship. According to PitchBook, he has made angel investments in 62 companies, including Compology, which offers AI solutions for waste and transportation, and Yet Analytics. In 2022 alone, Gerko received more than $1 billion in dividends from XTX. XTX later filed a lawsuit against Trump's former accounting firm, Mazars, after it declined to work with the company due to Gerko's Russian origins. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 8. Nik Storonsky ($7.9 billion/£5.8 billion) Nik Storonsky is the cofounder and CEO of Revolut, a UK-based financial services company valued at $45 billion by private investors in August 2024. He holds an 18% stake in Revolut, which offers a wide range of services including currency exchange, fee-free ATMs, global money transfers, and budgeting tools. Now one of Europe's leading unicorns, the company processes 590 million transactions per month and serves 45 million retail customers. Storonsky began his career trading derivatives at Lehman Brothers and renounced his Russian citizenship in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 7. Denise Coates ($8.4 billion/£6.2 billion) () | Getty Images Denise Coates is co-CEO of Bet365, one of the world's largest online gambling companies, which she runs alongside her billionaire brother, John. Originally trained as an accountant, Coates took over several of her family's betting shops before selling them to bookmaker Coral. Recognising the growing potential of online gambling, she purchased the domain in 2000 and launched the platform the following year. She owns roughly half of the privately held company, which processes over $65 billion in bets annually. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 6. Christopher Hohn ($9.2 billion/£6.8 billion) () | Getty Images Activist investor Chris Hohn founded The Children's Investment Fund, a London-based hedge fund, in 2003. Today, the fund manages $58 billion and holds large, focused stakes in companies such as Microsoft, Visa, and General Electric. Hohn donates a portion of the firm's profits to the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, which now has an endowment of over $6 billion. The son of a Jamaican car mechanic, Hohn studied at Southampton University in the UK before earning an MBA from Harvard. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He began his career in consulting and private equity, later joining Richard Perry's hedge fund, Perry Capital, in 1996. 5. Anthony Bamford & family ($9.6 billion/£7 billion) (Photo: ARTHUR EDWARDS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) | POOL/AFP via Getty Images Anthony Bamford and his family own JCB, a construction equipment powerhouse generating nearly $7 billion in annual revenue. The company was founded by his father in 1945 in a garage in Uttoxeter, England. Today, JCB sells its machinery in 150 countries, with customers including the U.S. military. 4. Simon & David Reuben ($13.4 billion/£9.9 billion) Simon and David Reuben share a vast fortune in real estate, technology, and investments. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In 2016, they sold a 49% stake in their data centre company, GlobalSwitch, to a Chinese investor consortium for nearly $3 billion. Two years later, they sold an additional 25% for $2.7 billion to a group of Asian institutional and private investors. Born in Mumbai and raised in the U.K., David began his career trading metals, while Simon imported carpets and invested in property. Their trading firm, Transworld, was active in the aluminium markets of Russia and Kazakhstan during the 1990s. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Today, the Reuben family holds an estimated 14% stake in Premier League club Newcastle United FC. 3. James Dyson ($15.3 billion/£11.3 billion) (Photo:for Dyson) | Getty Images for Dyson Frustrated with his family's underperforming vacuum, James Dyson set out in 1978 to create a better one, using cyclone technology to separate dirt from air. Today, Dyson employs more than 5,000 engineers globally and announced in 2020 that it would invest the equivalent of $14 million per week in product development through 2025. In 2019, the company abandoned its electric car project, citing a lack of commercial viability. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Despite attending art school in London and not holding an engineering degree, Dyson has become a pioneer in design and innovation. His company's popular line of intelligent air purifiers claims to have generated the most accurate global data on indoor air quality. 2. Sir Jim Ratcliffe ($16.8 billion/£12.4 billion) (Photo: BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images Former chemical engineer James Ratcliffe is the founder, chairman, and majority owner of Ineos Group, a $68 billion (2022 revenue) chemical giant. Headquartered in London, Ineos manufactures a wide range of products—from synthetic oils and plastics to solvents essential for producing insulin and antibiotics. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The company is a major player in the UK's shale industry, with its 600-foot 'Dragon Ships' pioneering the transport of US shale gas to Europe. Ratcliffe mortgaged his home in 1992 to finance the buyout of a BP chemicals unit, and six years later, he used assets from that deal to establish Ineos. In 2021, Ineos acquired two chemical divisions from BP for $5 billion, and in 2022, it launched petrochemical joint ventures with Sinopec worth over $7 billion. In 2023, Ineos expanded further by purchasing $1.4 billion in US onshore oil and gas assets from Chesapeake Energy. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Most recently, Ratcliffe took a 28% stake in Manchester United, investing $1.5 billion over two months ending in early 2024. 1. Michael Platt ($18.8 billion/£13.8 billion) Michael Platt is the cofounder and CEO of BlueCrest Capital Management, which he launched in late 2000 following nearly ten years at JP Morgan. He grew BlueCrest into one of the largest hedge funds in the world, at one point overseeing more than $35 billion in assets. After a challenging foray into equities and a period of underperformance that triggered investor withdrawals, Platt returned all outside capital in 2015 and transformed BlueCrest into a private family office. Since then, the firm has thrived - delivering standout returns, including 153% in 2022 and 95% in 2020, with no annual performance dipping below 20%.
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Brit backpacker, 24, could face 20 years in prison over e-scooter crash
Psychology graduate Alicia Kemp, 24, is being held in an Australian jail after being charged over a fatal e-scooter crash - her parents have flown out to be with her A 24-year-old British backpacker could face up to 20 years in jail after she was charged over the death of a man in an e-scooter crash, with her parents flying to Australia. An Australian court denied bail to Alicia Kemp, 24, from Redditch, Worcestershire, after she was charged with death by dangerous driving while under the influence. She was allegedly involved in an e-scooter crash that resulted in the death of Thanh Phan, 51, from a fatal head injury last Saturday. The psychology graduate allegedly hit Phan from behind as she sped down a Perth footpath while her friend was a passenger on the same scooter. Kemp could face up to 20 years behind bars if found guilty. A neighbour of Kemp's parents in Redditch claimed they had flown to Australia on Tuesday in order to to be with their daughter. Prosecutors said Kemp had a blood alcohol level of 0.158 when she "careered" into Phan's back at 25km per hour. The court heard pedestrians needed to "take evasive action" to avoid Kemp's "dangerous" scooter riding. The 26-year-old passenger suffered a fractured skull and broken nose in the crash. Kemp faces an additional charge of dangerous driving occasioning bodily harm while under the influence for injuries suffered by her passenger Kemp had been on a four-month tourist visa with her partner and was working at the Durty Nelly's Irish Pub in Perth at the time of the incident. Kemp's bail was denied after a magistrate ruled she posed a significant flight risk. The magistrate said: "It's a very difficult decision for the court to make. The temptation might be that [she] won't return… I can't manage that risk." Phan's family described him as a "beloved husband, father-of-two, brother, and dear friend", and have since called for a crackdown on safety laws around e-scooters. "We also call for a review of the governance and safety regulations surrounding hired e-scooters to help prevent further serious incidents that put lives at risk," the family said. Kemp remains in custody and is set to return to court on July 15. Police in Western Australia said they will continue to investigate whether additional charges, including public nuisance charges, could be brought against her.
