GT man arrested in fatal boat collision

(CNS) A 35-year-old man from George Town has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with a fatal boat crash in the North Sound in August. Police have not identified the suspect, who has been bailed as investigations continue. He was said to be captaining the Pepper Jelly, a 32-foot Scarab centre-console boat with two engines, which ploughed into the side of another vessel killing both men on board, Emmanuel Brown (49), who was piloting the boat, and a passenger, John Turner (70).

A woman who was also on Brown’s boat was seriously injured. Although she has since been released from hospital, officials confirmed that she is still receiving treatment for the injuries she sustained in the collision.

The Pepper Jelly, which is registered to Mango Jam Charters, was carrying two passengers when it hit Brown’s 24-foot Hurricane Deck boat, but neither they nor the captain were seriously hurt.

According to police reports at the time, the crash happened close to Harbour House Marine in the North Sound on Sunday, 11 August, at about 10:00pm. The Pepper Jelly had left the Camana Bay dock and headed into the North Sound. Brown’s boat was seen leaving the Star Fish Point area at around 7:30pm, heading across the North Sound.

Turner, a retiree from Essex in the UK, was found shortly after the collision by the search and rescue team. Brown, a former police officer who became a businessman in the tourism sector, was not pulled from the water until the next day.