[A] FISHING boat skipper whose vessel crashed into a wind turbine off the Cumbrian coast has been fined by a judge.
Carlisle Crown Court heard Jack Graham committed the offence on May 26 last year – his 21st birthday.
At the time, Graham was aboard the 10m-long craft Daybreak off the coast of Barrow with his father and uncle. As his relatives prepared bait for whelk fishing, Graham was asked to move boxes. He engaged an auto pilot system to steer the boat around an off-shore wind farm in the East Irish Sea, and left the tiller.
But during Graham’s 15 minutes away from the tiller, Daybreak crashed into a large turbine. The three men were rescued by lifeboat after Daybreak began taking on water. Graham’s father was hospitalised having fallen and suffered a head injury in the collision.
Around £6,000 damage was caused to the turbine, while the cost of boat repairs and lost earnings to Graham’s family business was around £100,000.
Graham, a man of previous good character, was sentenced today (MON) having admitted misconduct of a master or crew likely to endanger ships, structures or individuals. Described as “remorseful”, he had made immediate “full and frank” admissions of guilt.
Graham, of Eskdale Avenue, Seascale, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £2,000 costs.
