A POOLE relative of the famous naval diver Lionel "Buster" Crabb has reacted angrily to new claims he was murdered while trying to sink a Russian ship.

Commander Crabb, thought to have acted as Ian Fleming's inspiration for super-spy James Bond, went missing during a dive in Portsmouth in 1956.

The government of the day was keen to play down embarr-assing claims that Crabb had been spying on a Russian ship docked in the harbour during the visit of Soviet leaders Nikita Khruschev and Marshal Nikolai Bulganin and created a smokescreen around the incident.

But the BBC yesterday reported a former Russian frogman, Eduard Koltsov, had told a Russian documentary he cut the diver's throat after catching him placing a mine on the hull of the cruiser Ordzhonikidze.

Commander Crabb's cousin, Lomond Handley, 61, who lives in Rossmore, said she deemed the allegations another red herring in covering up the truth of what happened.

"I find it an astonishing story and hard to believe," said Ms Handley.

"To suggest he was planting a mine is ridiculous. It would have embarrassed our government and ruined the already strained relationships between the two countries. "The truth should be told. The British public deserve to know what happened to such a brave man."

With a new book about Commander Crabb's life, entitled The Final Dive, about to be released, Ms Handley said she was sceptical about the timing of the news.

She believes her cousin, who received the George Medal for his work as a naval diver, was betrayed, captured and taken back to Russia.

Mr Koltsov, who was 23 at the time, told the Russian documentary he was ordered to investigate suspicious activity around the ship when he spotted Commander Crabb fixing a mine to the hull.

He later showed the documentary team the dagger he claims he used to kill the Englishman and said he needed to release the truth about the Cold War mystery before he died.

"What he is admitting to, this gentlemen, is committing an act of murder," said Ms Handley.

"I simply don't believe it."

The headless body of a frogman was found in Chichester in June 1957 and a coroner later ruled that it was Commander Crabb's body.