‘I couldn’t turn boat before death crash’
What accused skipper told widow from hospital bed
THE widow of a Scot killed in a speedboat crash spoke in hospital to the millionaire accused of causing his death, a court heard yesterday.
Fran McKinlay, 39, revealed to police that wealthy telecoms businessman Aaron Brown wept as he told her the ‘wheel wouldn’t turn’.
Brown, 34, is on trial for the manslaughter of Mrs McKinlay’s husband Ryan, a close friend of the accused.
Winchester Crown Court heard they were on a day trip on Brown’s luxury £1million co-owned yacht, and he was ‘showing off’ to guests on a jet-powered rigid inflatable boat (RIB) which was kept on board. But when he took Mr McKinlay, 36, for a ride on it, the boat crashed into the back of his 62ft Fairline Targa cruiser, True Blue.
Mrs McKinlay, from Gosport, Hants, filmed the collision on a phone and the distressing footage showing Brown and her husband being thrown into the air was shown to jurors. Father-of-one Mr McKinlay was sitting at the front of the smaller boat and the swimming platform at the back of the yacht struck him in the chest, catapulting him into the water.
He died in hospital following the accident off Osborne Bay, Isle of Wight, on June 19, 2015. Nick Tucker, prosecuting, yesterday told jurors how, at St Mary’s Hospital in Newport on the island, the group later discussed the tragedy
Reading out a statement from Mrs McKinlay, he said: ‘On the evening of June 19, I went to St Mary’s Hospital which is where Ryan was taken to.
‘After he had been confirmed as having died, I recall speaking to Aaron Brown in a room at the hospital.
‘I recall very clearly that I asked Aaron what had happened. He said to me the “wheel wouldn’t turn”. I’m sure he said this twice, while he said this he was crying.
‘I remember that he had a bump or a cut on his head.’
Brown, from Curbridge near Southampton, Hants, denies a charge of manslaughter by reason of gross negligence.
The court heard the Williams Turbo Jet 325 RIB is capable of speeds up to 40mph.
Brown had hired the services of Paul Carey, 52, from Southampton, to skipper the cruiser, and the court heard he had also driven the RIB at speed that day.
Paul Glatzell, a powerboat expert, said the manoeuvres being carried out were ‘unsafe’.
The injuries of businessman Mr McKinlay, which were consistent with a high energy impact collision, were ‘unsurvivable’, jurors were told.
The trial, expected to last two weeks, continues.