A DEVASTATED man told an inquest of the moment he saw his girlfriend’s lifeless body washed up on a beach.

Antiques dealer Wareham Pasco, from Whitstable, remembered swimming in rough sea with Michele Bailey at the Caribbean resort where they were holidaying in January this year.

“I had a problem with the waves crashing over my head and was worried I wasn’t going to make it. But Michele seemed to be swimming with her head up,” he said.

“I pulled her out and called for help and someone came to administer CPR. There was water coming our of her mouth but I had no idea she was dead.”

A preliminary post-mortem on 47-year-old Miss Bailey, who lived in Essex Street, Whitstable, established she had drowned.

A second post-mortem by East Kent Hospitals Trust pathologist, George Vittay confirmed the finding.

He told the hearing how someone in distress in the water can suffer an irregular heart beat and difficulty breathing which can lead to them being overcome.

Miss Cobb recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.

After the hearing, Mr Pasco, revealed it was the second time he had been devastated by the death of a friend in less than a year.

Lynn Izod, 55, of Ashley Drive, Seasalter, who worked for him at his Wareham Garden Antiques shop in Oxford Street, died from a cocktail of alcohol and anti-depressants on Seasalter beach last September.

He said: “Lynn was just a friend who worked for me but her death was tragic and very upsetting.

“Michele helped me through it. She was a lovely, gentle person and although we hadn’t made any long term plans, we were very close.

“The holiday was our Christmas present to each other. Losing her has absolutely broken me inside.”

But Mr Pasco praised the people of Whitstable for their kindness and support following her death. “They have been wonderful and I can’t thank them enough,” he stressed.