Emily Lewis death: Safety checks made before crash, court hears

The owner of a speedboat involved in a crash that killed a 15-year-old girl has told a court how precautions were always taken to protect passengers.

Emily Lewis died after a rigid inflatable boat (RIB) run by thrill ride company Seadogz hit a buoy in Southampton Water on 22 August 2020.

Seadogz owner Michael Howley has been accused of not operating a boat safely.

The 52-year-old denies the charge and told Winchester Crown Court he had done risk assessments for the craft.

Giving evidence, Mr Howley, from Hordle, told jurors he had spent more than five years as a lifeboatman.

He said: "When you are on a shout, you are doing assessments on risk, as you (are) arriving to a vessel, when assigning crews."

Mr Howley said he was responsible for his boats being safe and had prepared a risk assessment to meet the requirement of insurance companies.

He said requirements for passengers included them wearing appropriate clothing and footwear, sunscreen when appropriate and a strict no-alcohol policy.

The thrill rides would regularly need to be cut short because a passenger would become too scared, with this happening about 10 times per season, he added.

"You always drive the boat to the weakest person on the RIB and every now and again you would check on the passenger," he said.

The trial has heard that 55-year-old Michael Lawrence was driving the boat when it hit the buoy in the crash, which also a left number of other passengers seriously injured.

He told jurors he had lost his vision for a "split second" in the moments before impact and said he had not been showing-off.

Mr Lawrence, of Blackfield, New Forest, denies manslaughter by gross negligence, failing to maintain a proper lookout and failing to proceed at a safe speed.

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