Skipper of speedboat which hit Solent buoy killing 15-year-old girl acquitted of manslaughter

The skipper of a speedboat which crashed into a buoy in the Solent killing a 15-year-old girl has been acquitted of manslaughter.

Michael Lawrence, 55, who was driving the boat, was found not guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence, but guilty of failing to maintain a proper lookout and failing to proceed at a safe speed, by the jury.

Emily Lewis, 15, suffered fatal injuries when the rigid inflatable boat (rib) collided with the nearly 4.7m (more than 15ft) high buoy at 36.6 knots in Southampton Water on 22 August 2020.

A number of other passengers were seriously injured.

The jury took nearly 18 hours to convict Michael Howley, 52, the owner of Seadogz, the company which operated the boat trip, with not operating the boat safely.

Howley was found guilty by majority verdict.

During the trial, the court heard Emily's parents, Simon and Nikki, had decided to take her and her 18-year-old sister Amy for the "high thrills" speedboat ride.

The rib was recorded to travel at speeds of 47.8 knots, which is in excess of an expired speed limit of 40 knots (46mph/74kph).

As part of the ride, which took place in "perfect conditions", the Stormforce 950 Rib crossed the wake of the Red Falcon ferry five times before it then headed straight towards the North West Netley buoy which measures 4.69m (15ft 5in) above the water line.

The prosecution said the rib travelled straight towards the buoy for 14 seconds before hitting it, throwing two passengers into the water and injuring several others.

During the trial, the jury was shown footage of the moment the boat hit the buoy:

Emily suffered severe internal injuries after being crushed against the metal handle in front of her.

She was taken ashore by another rib and then by ambulance to hospital, where she died after her family took the decision to turn off her life support system when doctors said she had suffered a lack of oxygen to the brain and that her injuries were unsurvivable.

Prosecuting, Christine Agnew KC said that Lawrence, of Blackfield, New Forest, initially said that a face mask had blown into his face blocking his vision, but had later changed his account.

The former lifeboatman told the trial that he had lost his vision momentarily prior to hitting the buoy.

The court heard that a medical cause such as a blood clot in an artery in his eye was unlikely to have caused vision loss as it was unlikely to have affected both eyes at once.

Lawrence was said in court to be an "extremely experienced mariner" and his co-defendant described him as "Mr Safe and Mr Cautious".

As well as serving as an RNLI lifeboatman for 20 years, he held a number of qualifications and he was also the principal of his own RYA-recognised training centre, A2Sea, which held powerboat courses.

In a statement read to the jury, Mrs Lewis, Emily's mother, described the safety briefing given by Lawrence as "wishy-washy" and she was scared during the ride because she felt he was driving the Rib too fast.

The family said in a statement released previously through Hampshire Police: "We are all in shock that our beautiful daughter and sister is no longer with us, and words just don't seem available to express our deep sense of loss."

After the verdict against Howley was delivered, the court was told by prosecution solicitor David Richards KC that Seadogz had received three complaints from injured passengers in 10 years, with one person injured during a ride in 2012 receiving a £300,000 payout.

Another man suffered a back injury in September 2019 which resulted in surgery for broken vertebrae, while a third person was injured in July 2017.

None of those injuries resulted in criminal charges. Seadogz is no longer in operation.

Howley's solicitor James Newton-Price KC said he did not accept any of those claims would count as findings against his client during sentencing.

Howley, of Hordle, New Forest, who is also a former lifeboatman, said that he used his experience on rescues to inform the risk assessments that he carried out for his business to ensure the safety of the passengers and staff.

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