THE Condor crew member who was convicted last year after a collision with a fishing boat that killed three men has unsuccessfully tried to appeal his sentence.
After a month-long trial last year, Lewis Peter Carr (31) was convicted of one count of conduct endangering ships, structures of individuals under the Shipping (Jersey) Law 2022. The trial ended in a hung jury on a manslaughter charge.
Carr was the more senior of two Condor crew who were on the bridge of the freight ship Commodore Goodwill when it struck a fishing boat in the early hours of 8 December 2022.
The collision caused the deaths of the three men onboard the L’Ecume II: skipper Michael Michieli (62) and his crew, Larry Simyunn (33) and Jervis Baligat (31).
Carr was sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment in December.
Advocate Simon Thomas, representing Carr, argued in a Superior Number Appeal in the Royal Court that this sentence was too long.
While he said his client was negligent, he said his culpability was not as high as if he had shown “reckless disregard” for others, he said.
Among the reasons why his culpability wasn’t as high, he said Carr had taken actions to try and avoid the collision, turning the boat by seven degrees 45 seconds before the collision, but that this was “too little, too late”.
Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit, representing the Attorney General, described Carr’s “laziness” and said he “deliberately” didn’t take actions that would have prevented the collision, when collision warnings were flashing on his screen and there was a “serious and obvious risk” of collision”.
He pointed to ten points where he said Carr had failed in his responsibilities.
Rejecting the appeal, Commissioner Alan Binnington, presiding, said the sentence was not manifestly excessive, and that Carr’s sentence should be towards the highest end of the sentences available under the Shipping Law.
Commissioner Alan Binnington was presiding with Jurats Dulake, Averty, Berry, Powell and Gardener.
