Death crash speedboat skipper who was known as ‘Mr Safe’
A GIRL of 15 was killed in a speedboat crash by a ‘grossly negligent’ skipper who was nicknamed ‘Mr Safe’, a court has heard.
Emily Lewis was on an ‘adrenaline-fuelled’ summer excursion with her family when the speedboat they were travelling in ploughed into a buoy at more than 40mph.
The schoolgirl suffered ‘ unsurvivable’ injuries in August 2020 after her chest was crushed against a metal handle.
Experienced mariner Michael Lawrence is accused of recklessly taking risks by performing stunts in the rigid inflatable boat before crashing into a 15ft buoy.
The court heard he ‘wasn’t paying attention’ or ‘miscalculated’ a turn during the ‘ extremely dangerous’ 60-minute ride.
Lawrence, 55, initially blamed the accident on his Covid face mask, saying it had been blown up by the wind and covered his eyes.
But he then ‘changed his story’, claiming he had had some sort of black-out which made him temporarily lose his sight.
Eleven other passengers – including Emily’s mother Nikki, father Simon and then 18-year-old sister Amy – were injured in the crash on Southampton Water. Winchester Crown Court heard that, afterwards, a terrified Emily said she could not breathe or see.
But Lawrence was seen pacing up and down the boat ‘not appearing to assist anyone and stepping over those in his way’. Mr Lewis told the court that he saw the buoy ‘dead ahead’ for what felt like 15 or 20 seconds.
Describing the impact, he said he was ‘thrown forward very violently’, hitting his face, knee and wrist on the seat in front.
Mr Lewis added: ‘Em was down in front of her seat in almost like a foetal position. At the time I thought she had just been winded as she was like “I can’t breathe”.’ But the court heard the schoolgirl fell unconscious and the family was later told she had suffered oxygen deprivation to the brain.
Mr Lewis said they agreed for her life support to be turned off because that was ‘not how Emily would have wished to live’.
Prosecutor Christine Agnew KC told the court that Lawrence’s behaviour was ‘truly, exceptionally bad and grossly negligent’.
Miss Agnew described Lawrence as ‘hugely experienced and well qualified’, adding: ‘Despite his experience – or maybe even because of it – he took risks he should not have done and failed to observe basic safe practice.’ Karim Khalil KC, defending Lawrence, told jurors the former lifeboat coxswain now has PTSD, adding: ‘His maritime career has always been about preserving life and not endangering it.’
Lawrence, of Blackfield in Hampshire, denies manslaughter by gross negligence, failure to maintain a proper lookout as master of the boat and failing to proceed at a safe speed while operating the boat. The four-week trial continues.
‘Performing risky stunts’