Hong Kong
(AFP) - A Hong Kong boat captain was on Monday sentenced to eight years in
prison for the manslaughter of 39 people in a 2012 ferry collision, the city's
worst maritime disaster in nearly four decades.
Sea Smooth
skipper Lai Sai Ming, 56, was found guilty on Saturday following a trial that
gripped the city, over the accident between his high-speed ferry and a pleasure
boat near Lamma Island.
"I
have concluded you should go to prison for eight years," judge Brian Keith
told a court.
"You
were in command of a fast ferry, not a small pleasure boat. You knew if you
didn't check for the presence of other vessels you would be risking lives...
your conduct that night fell way below the standard of professionalism,"
he said.
"The
case has been personal tragedy for your and your family but that cannot begin
to compare with the unimaginable grief to those who lost their loved
ones," he said, as Lai listened from the dock with his head lowered.
Lai was
jailed for a further 18 months for endangering the safety of others at sea, but
the terms will be served concurrently.
Chow
Chi-wai, 58, who was piloting the leisure boat Lamma IV with 120 people on board
in the collision, was jailed for nine months for endangering others' safety at
sea. He was acquitted of all 39 charges of manslaughter.
His lawyer
Gerard McCoy said that, after the October 1, 2012 incident, Chow "has
deep, abiding fear of the sea" and cannot go on ferries anymore.
Saturday's
verdict came after a nine-member jury deliberated for four days following a
60-day trial.
Irene
Cheng, who lost her 24-year-old son in the accident, told AFP that the
sentences could not bring back the families' loved ones.
"I
respect the court decision. But even if they were given a death penalty it
cannot compensate... his life will not return and my family will never be the
same," she said.
The
collision raised questions over safety in the crowded waters of Hong Kong, one
of the world's busiest ports, with an inquiry pointing to a "litany of
errors" that caused the disaster.
Victims
could have had vital extra minutes to escape if the Lamma IV had been equipped
with a watertight door, while several were actually left trapped when seats
fell on top of them, the inquiry found.
The boat
also had no children's life jackets onboard when it sank, claiming the lives of
eight youngsters.
It was the
city's most serious maritime accident since 1971, when a ferry between Hong
Kong and Macau sank off the island of Lantau during a typhoon, killing 88
people.
Related Article:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.