Toy boats in scene in court

Press, 29 October 1977, Page 6

Toy boats in scene in court

Toy plastic boats were moved about in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday to reconstruct events before and after a collision between two fishing boats earlier this year. Desmond John Farrell Skene, a fisherman, was defending a charge that, being master of the Turaki, he did not keep out of the way of the Aroha I when the vessels were crossing and the Aroha I was on his starboard side, and was thereby in breach of the Collision Regulations. He also pleaded not guilty to an alternative charge that, being the master of the Turaki, he did not keep out of the way of the Aroha 1 when overtaking that vessel, thereby breaching the Collision Regulations. The two fishing boats collided off Black Birch Creek, near Motunau Beach, on February 13. Mr J. S. Bisphan, S.M., said he would give his decision when he returned to Christchurch in December. Mr G. K. Panckhurst appeared for the Marine Division of the Ministry of transport, and Mr P. G. S. Penlington for Skene. Robert Frederick Pooley, the other fisherman involved in the collision, said that he had been the subject of complaints to the police by Skene the day before the incident. There had been arguments about the placing of craypots in the area. On February 13, he said, he had been fishing off Motunau outside Black Birch Creek, when he saw Skene. Mr Pooley said he moved up to where the next pots were, three miles from shore, pulled up near Skene’s boat, and had argued

about the fishing-rights dispute. The conversation had ended when Skene told him: “Try this for size" and moved towards him. His boat was in such a position that when he put the power on, the Turaki headed straight for the Aroha I’s midships, he said. “When what had happened, I gave the boat full throttle and pulled hard over to port to avoid being hit” hesaid. Mr JPooley later said that if he had not moved, Skene would have hit him right where he was standing. He said that he had moved about 3m away when the defendant struck the back:'of the boat, hit the motor, and rode up over the back of the boat pushing it under. The Aroha I had to be towed home because the motor was full of water and the steering was smashed, he said. Witness told counsel that there had been a gentleman’s i agreement as to which area I each fisherman used. He was fishing the disputed area after Skene had left it tc fish elsewhere, he said. Robin James Stanley, Deputy Superintendent of Mer cantile Marine stationed at Lyttelton, said that he was chairman of a preliminary inquiry into the incident. Skene had attended the inquiry and had been most cooperative. Witness said he had inspected the Aroha 1 and had found that the cover of the motor had been broken and could see where the Turaki had climbed up over the boat's stern. A defence witness, John Hector Macintosh, said that this was the thirteenth year

-Ihe had fished out of Mo- t tunau. He had been present < d on February 12 when a con- I i: stable had visited Motunau s d Beach to investigate a com- ! si plaint of assault laid by s n I Skene against Robert Pooley. r| The next day he had put : d to sea at 4 a.m. and had s s, later moved north working t i through his gear. He had « d kept an eye on Skene so t I that he would not have a re- i d; petition of the incident the t g previous day, he said. \ He saw Skene move to his i 11 top fishing patch when he ! e, 1 noticed Mr Pooley set sail t tI on an interception course s Iwith Skene. di “I dropped a pot off and is n :headed out to try to prevent s eiany trouble,” witness said. Is e | About half to three-quar-e | ters of a mile off. he saw a'! tigap between the boats, then It | there was a sudden move-p e !ment as they merged as one. IJ e | He told Mr Panckhurstlt j that he was not aware there I [ had been a collision until he saw that the top of Mr Poo- j t {, ley’s boat had been dam-It s aged. He had already estab-{ s a lished that Skene's gear had' s not been chopped off. a i He then towed the Arohap o il most of the way home, j j There had been no reluc-jt Jtance by Mr Pooley tojc .. accept his offer of a towo u .at:d Mr Pooley did not look;< s j“scared stiff” although hep ~ was not saying much, said | ■ witness. Is j The defendant gave evi-( •'jdence that he owned a 7.3 m « ’'ijet boat and had been fishing T ®|off Motunau for 13 seasons, j 1 (There had been no e i over fishing rights until thisj< n year. Later he said that he’c e did not think Mr Pooley was; P encroaching on his fishing it grounds, as in previous |< n seasons they had worked the: t it area together. js r He had left to go fishing |(

at 4 a.m. on the Sunday, and as he approached the top area he was working, he saw a boat travel towards him from inshore. Skene said. The Pooley boat, went round behind the stern, started to slow, then went round the bow and stopped about three metres away. He said he was told that if he shifted his gear from the area, there would be no violence. Skene said that he did not have anything to say and that he put his vessel to starboard. At the same time, Mr Pooley appeared to swing the wheel to starboard and his port how struck the outboard motor. Later in his evidence, Skene said that his main concern was to clear the stern of the Pooley boat. If Mr Pooley had not moved, the accident might never have happened. He denied saying. “Try this for size’* or "Are you ready for the next one to sink you?" Harvey Christopher Taylor, assistant manager of C. W. F. Hamilton and Company. Ltd, said that the type of jet boat the defendant owned was very manoeuvreable at low speeds and could turn w'ithin its own length. A former Harbour master at Lyttelton, Captain A. R. Champion, said that if Skene swung his boat to starboard and there was a 3m to 4m gap between the boats, his action was a matter of clearing and did not involve overtaking or crossing. If Mr Pooley’s boat had been hit intentionally, all the damage wrnuld have been on the port side and not on the starboard side where it was. Captain Champion said.