THE trial of two men accused of manslaughter following the sinking of the L’Ecume II trawler in 2022 was due to begin in the Royal Court today.
Lewis Peter Carr (29) and Artur Sevash-Zade (35) will face trial, having pleaded not guilty to unlawfully killing skipper Michael Michieli and crew members Jervis Baligat and Larry Simyunn when their fishing vessel was in a collision with Condor’s Commodore Goodwill freight ship on 8 December 2022.
The trawler sank off Jersey’s west coast, triggering an immediate search-and-rescue operation spanning 36 hours.
A recovery mission using the offshore support vessel MV Freja saw two bodies recovered from the wreck the following week, later identified as crewmen Mr Baligat and Mr Simyunn, from the Philippines.
In February 2023, it was decided that the vessel should be raised for both “evidential gain and for humanitarian reasons” and specialist teams and equipment – including a 60-metre-long crane barge – started the operation two months later.
A body was brought ashore on 26 April and eight days later the identity of the third victim – Mr Michieli – was formally confirmed.
Mr Sevash-Zade, a 35-year-old Ukrainian national and Mr Carr, aged 29 and from Sunderland, first faced charges when they appeared at the Magistrate’s Court in separate hearings in July 2024.
In the aftermath of the incident in December 2022, Mr Michieli’s daughter Rebecca started a fundraising appeal to assist the families of the two Filipino crew members, raising more than £100,000 within a few days. Miss Michieli was subsequently named as Volunteer/ Fundraiser of the Year at the Pride of Jersey Awards.
Scheduled to last four weeks, the trial will take place at the former government office building in the Parade, St Helier.
