Boat in crash which killed girl, 15, was in previous accidents, inquest told

A speedboat in which a 15-year-old girl suffered fatal injuries when it crashed into a navigation buoy had been involved in three previous accidents, an inquest has heard.

These included one where a passenger suffered rib injuries in “remarkably similar circumstances”.

Emily Lewis died after the rigid inflatable boat (rib) Seadogz collided with a 4.5m-high buoy in Southampton Water on August 22 2020, with a number of other passengers being seriously injured.

The inquest at Winchester heard that Emily was taken to hospital but attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful and a decision was taken to turn off her life support.

A post-mortem examination found that she died as a result of upper abdominal injuries caused by her being thrown forward from the bench seat she was sitting on when the rib collided with the buoy.

Captain Emma Tiller, investigator for the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), told the hearing that the rib had been carrying out a “thrill” ride for the 11 passengers at speeds in excess of 40 knots.

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.

Michael Howley, 52, the owner of the now defunct Seadogz which ran the boat trips, was convicted of not operating the boat safely.

They were both sentenced at Winchester Crown Court in March 2023 to 18 weeks in custody suspended for two years, ordered to complete 125 hours of community service and pay £1,000 of court costs.

Cpt Tiller said the route had involved making close passes of buoys as well as crossing the wake of the Red Falcon ferry.

It was shortly after the fifth pass of the Isle of Wight ferry that the rib crashed into the North West Netley buoy.

She said: “Despite the buoy being almost directly straight ahead, the skipper of Seadogz did not see it until just before the impact at a speed of 38.4 knots.

“The rib had been accelerating on this relatively steady heading for the final 10 seconds before hitting the buoy.”

She added: “The impact with the buoy resulted in a sudden deceleration causing Seadog’s unrestrained occupants to be projected forward.

“Emily Lewis sustained fatal injuries when she struck the extended handhold in front of her during the impact.”

Cpt Tiller said that the “mental workload” for the skipper would have been increased by taking the rib across the ferry’s wake and that the Small Commercial Vessels (SCV) Code recommends an additional crew member.

She said that Seadogz RIB Charter Limited used to use two-man crews but this had changed over time to just a skipper without any “risk assessment to identify the consequences”.

Cpt Tiller said Seadogz had been involved in three previous accidents in the preceding eight-and-a-half years with a male passenger sitting on the bench, similar to Emily, suffering serious rib injuries by striking the handhold in front of him in an incident in 2017.

She added that the company also did not have a safety management system (SMS) or a health and safety policy in place and its risk assessment did not look at the possibility of a collision.

Cpt Tiller also criticised Lawrence for not acting as “expected” to prioritise the safety of the craft and their passengers with him instead using his mobile phone to inform the company of the crash.

However, she said he might have a suffered a “negative startle response” from the accident.

Cpt Tiller also said that life jackets used on the rib had had their crotch straps removed against the rules for their use.

She added that the MAIB had made a number of recommendations to provide improved guidance for the sector because of “limitations” of the SCV code.

Emily’s father, Simon Lewis, of Park Gate, Southampton, who was also on the trip with his wife Nicola and their other daughter, Amy, paid tribute to his daughter, saying: “She was a very kind and thoughtful person with an amazing ability to make people feel loved which transcended her young age.”

He added the impact on their lives had been “devastating” and said: “Our lives have been decimated, careers lost, dreams shattered for all of us.”

Amy said: “I never imagined I wouldn’t be able to have a sister with me forever. It’s deeply sad without her, I miss her every single day and I will never not miss her.”

Assistant coroner Henry Charles adjourned the hearing to be concluded on Thursday.