A YACHT owner who moored his boat alongside the motor cruiser where a mum and daughter died from carbon monoxide poisoning said the generator appeared to be working fine the evening before they died.

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Matthew Eteson, 42, denies manslaughter by gross negligence relating to the deaths of his fiancee Kelly Webster and her daughter Lauren Thornton aboard his boat on Windermere on April 1, 2013.

He appeared before Preston Crown Court yesterday for the second day of a trial expected to last three weeks.

Gary Beetham, a sailor with a yacht also moored on Windermere over Easter weekend 2013, said he had been aboard Eteson’s boat on the evening of March 31 and chatted about the generator which later caused the deaths of Kelly, 36, and Lauren, 10, from Leyland, Lancashire.

An outdoor generator had been fabricated for use below deck and carbon monoxide detectors had been disconnected.

Mr Beetham said he had seen Eteson along with Kelly and Lauren on March 31 and enjoyed a pleasant evening with them celebrating his wife’s birthday.

He chatted to Eteson about the generator he was using to provide power to the boat.

He said: “He did say to me he had this generator and he had a silencer on it. I wasn’t on the boat too long but when I went off I made the comment that it was quieter.

“It appeared to be running correctly.”

Mr Beetham told the court he could feel the generator blasting hot air out of the side of the boat from around 6pm. But when he saw Kelly the following morning, the generator was not in use.

He added it was not unusual for boats which were kept on swinging moorings in the water to use petrol generators.

On the morning of April 1, Mr Beetham saw Kelly at around 7am.

He described Eteson, Kelly and Lauren as a “happy and devoted little family” and said Eteson was very attentive to his partner and her daughter.

Later that day, as the family slept below deck, the generator failed and carbon monoxide leaked into the cabin where Kelly and Lauren slept. The prosecution allege the modifications Eteson made to fit the silencer to the generator were poorly designed and inadequately tested.

Furthermore, as a Gas Safe registered engineer with welding qualifications, Eteson, of Hale, Cheshire, should have foreseen the risk in bringing the generator below deck.

The trial continues.