Crown: speed, negligence caused fatal boat crash

(CNS): The speed, acceleration, poor judgment and general negligence of boat captain Sean Michael McDonald (38) when he was at the helm of the Pepper Jelly on 11 August 2019 caused a fatal crash in the North Sound between that boat and a smaller vessel, a court heard Tuesday.

McDonald faces two counts of manslaughter after Emmanuel “Manny” Brown (49), a former police officer from George Town, and his business partner John Turner (70), a UK-national living in Cayman, who were aboard the Godfrey Hurricane, were both killed in the collision.

McDonald has denied the manslaughter charges. He has also denied a charge of grievous bodily harm in relation to Shamilla Wright, who was also aboard the Godfrey Hurricane and suffered life-changing injuries but survived the crash. McDonald has claimed that it was his vessel that was hit by the small boat being captained by Brown.

Richard Matthews QC, who is prosecuting the case against McDonald, said that the evidence, based largely on the Pepper Jelly‘s GPS, CCTV footage from Harbour House Marine and the expert crash reconstructionist report, was overwhelming and that McDonald was driving too fast for the conditions he was in.

The crown’s lawyer said it was McDonald’s boat that ploughed over the smaller Godfrey Hurricane when the boats collided in the North Sound, not far from the Abbey Road Channel sometime after sunset.

As he opened the case against McDonald in a judge-alone trial before Justice Cheryll Richards, Matthews said that he was going at least 40mph just before the crash and then had accelerated, and at the time of the collision was travelling in excess of 50mph.

The prosecutor told the court that McDonald was a very experienced boat captain, having worked on the water for more than fifteen years, and knew the hazards presented by a busy Sunday evening.

As darkness fell, he knew there would be a significant amount of marine traffic approaching the shore and heading for the channels. Therefore he should have been going much more slowly and carefully and paying much greater attention, given the increased risk.

But, the crown argued, the evidence will show that McDonald, despite his experience, was already travelling at “excessive speed and accelerated” the boat immediately before the collision. The prosecutor said he had shown a “reckless disregard for the life and safety of others”, making him culpable for the deaths of Brown and Turner.

At the time of the crash, McDonald and his two passengers were thrown from the boat. but all three swam to shore and made it to safety. However, Turner and Wright were both found in the boat in the early hours of the morning. Turner had been killed on impact, while Wright was alive but suffering very serious injuries when the emergency services found them. Brown’s body was pulled from the water later that day.

The case continues.