Retired sea captain Colin Darch was invited by the Parkham Women's Institute in North Devon to speak about piracy, considering that he was an expert in the field. However, they were unaware that the former sailor had been in a hostage situation with pirates for 47 days.

When they heard the talk would be about piracy, the group decided to liven things up by dressing up as pirates, without hearing about Darch's past.

However, when Mr. Darch arrived, they realised they had made a grave mistake after he described his ordeal; he was brutally beaten and held at gun point by Somalian pirates.

The treasurer of the group, Stephanie George, commented: “I suggested we dress up as I suspected it was a general talk about piracy or something to do with the Appledore Pirates, the fundraising group.

“I work in Walter Henry’s Bookshop in Bideford and on the morning of the day the meeting when I noticed Colin Darch’s book on the side and put two and two together. I thought “oh god, how awful!”

“By then it was too late, just thought we would have to go with it. It was lucky Colin was such a good sport."

The former sailor took everything in his stride and was not insulted by the ladies dressing up. He even agreed to judge the contest for Best Dressed pirate for the event.

We're pretty sure when the realisation hit, it was all pretty awkward...