Jeremy Orritt, a British yachtsman, has been acquitted of charges alleging he attempted to kill his girlfriend by pushing her overboard during a sailing trip off the coast of Portugal. The Cascais judicial court ruled there was insufficient evidence to support claims that Orritt deliberately tried to drown Larissa Lemare, who was rescued from the River Tagus near Oeiras after being thrown into the water in May 2025.

Orritt, 61, was arrested shortly after the incident and spent 16 months in custody facing charges of attempted aggravated homicide and domestic violence. Portuguese prosecutors had alleged that the couple, who had been in a relationship for about a year and embarked on a joint worldwide voyage in December 2024, experienced episodes of verbal and physical violence. According to the prosecution, Orritt assaulted Lemare aboard their yacht, SV Mariner, and then pushed her into the sea, departing the scene knowing she could not swim. However, the court did not accept this version of events, leading to Orritt’s release.

Lemare, from Totnes, Devon, was recovered from the river by a passing boat and hospitalized. Following her rescue, she reportedly continued her international travels, including crewing a yacht in the Caribbean. Before the incident, Lemare had expressed on social media her commitment to facing adversities alongside Orritt during their journey, framing their expedition as a spiritual and emotional voyage. She wrote about weathering difficulties together and valuing love as "the most precious thing on earth."

Orritt, originally from Bath, Somerset, had described their trip as a “divine mission” to herald a new age of peace, love, and unity. He and Lemare traveled aboard the 34-foot yacht, aiming to visit sacred sites globally while promoting a message of balance between the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine. Prior to the incident, Orritt had invited conscious, vegan crew members to join their journey from northern Spain toward the Mediterranean, emphasizing an interconnected spiritual purpose underlying their travels.

The couple’s voyage had included a route down the Brittany coast, a crossing of the Bay of Biscay, and plans to sail along the Atlantic coast to Portugal, awaiting favorable weather conditions. The court’s decision ends the criminal case against Orritt, leaving unresolved the differing accounts surrounding the incident on the River Tagus.