Police arrest suspect over murder of Brit mum, 20, during burglary in Greece after he was stopped at border

Baby Lydia was "half on her, screaming and hitting her mother with her hands to wake her up".

Charalambos was tied up with rope "like a sausage" and also handcuffed, with insulating tape over his eyes and mouth, reports said.

He is believed to have suffered hypoxia - a potentially fatal lack of oxygen - before wriggling free and calling police using his nose.

Police said he would have suffocated to death had it not been for one small detail.

After blindfolding and gagging him, the gang left him with a small field of vision meaning he could see what was happening around him.

It meant that when the invaders left he could find his way to his nightstand and call for help.

Cops said he suffered mini fainting episodes and if it had been any longer he would have died.

'BEGGED FOR THEIR LIVES'

Charalambos told investigators he begged for their lives as the brutal thieves held a gun to the baby's head and demanded to know where they kept their cash and jewels.

Officers suspect the gang may have been tipped off that the couple had significant amounts of cash stashed in the house, hidden in a Monopoly box, to pay builders after they bought a plot of land.

They also think the gang could have been high on drugs as they showed signs of going for robbery and not murder, and could not control their actions.

The three robbers forced their way into the family's two-storey house at 4.30am after breaking a CCTV camera and hanging the family's dog by its own lead.

A fourth criminal kept watch outside the home as the other three found the couple sleeping with their child in an attic bedroom.

A police spokesperson told the local news outlet The Dawn that cops believe the suspects, masked and armed with pistols, broke into the house through a window in the basement after spending several hours observing the family.

DNA samples are being collected from the couple's clothes and Caroline's fingernails, which could lead them to the gang after preliminary analysis showed evidence of her frantic struggle.

Caroline - a black belt kickboxer - fought back against her torturers.

Helicopter pilot Charalambos paid tribute to his "wonderful" wife in an emotional eulogy at Caroline's funeral.

He told mourners he is heartbroken that their daughter now faces the agony of growing up not remembering her mother.

He was pictured clutching little Lydia in his arms as he walked from an aircraft to a car waiting to take him to the service.

Paying tribute to Caroline, he said: "I was lucky that I met you, very lucky that you loved me and even more lucky that you are the mother of my child.

"Lydia will grow up not remembering her wonderful mother, but Caroline, who was the joy of life, will always be near me, through Lydia."

Local mayor Petros Vafinis told The Sun Online: "Caroline was much loved and we are as shocked here as everyone in Greece by this horrible crime."

Her grieving mother, Susan Dela Cuesta, sobbed as she joined the family of widowed Charalambos to pray at her graveside after she was laid to rest.

Caroline was raised on Alonissos where her British dad, David, had built a dream villa after falling in love with the island.

The former gas and oil executive had previously lived in Athens where he met Susan, a teacher.

Caroline moved to the island when she was a little girl, attending the local Greek school and joining the girl scouts.