Speedboat driver admits 'carelessness' in jet ski collision

Sunday 20 January 2019

A 38-year-old speedboat driver, whose collision with a jet ski left a local lawyer with "potentially life-changing" leg injuries, has admitted he was operating without due care and attention on the day of the incident.

Michael Bartolomiej Dorynek will be sentenced in Royal Court on 15 February.

He was originally charged with four offences - grave and criminal assault, operating a vessel recklessly or dangerously, owning and mastering a “dangerously unsafe ship”, and failing to report an incident to the Harbour Master - following the crash on 9 July 2017.

Pictured: Advocate Giles Corbin, who was seriously injured as a result of the collision.

The collision saw Dorynek's speedboat plough into the side of a jet ski carrying Advocate Giles Corbin (45) and one other passenger. 

Mr Corbin was airlifted for emergency treatment at Southampton Hospital following the incident, and remained in the UK at a specialist unit in Salisbury where he underwent several surgeries – including skin grafts – to mend his severely damaged limbs.

The lawyer, who was flooded with well wishes from islanders, returned to the island in August 2017.

Pictured: Dorynek will be sentenced on 15 February in the Royal Court.

On Friday, Dorynek appeared in the Royal Court, where he pleaded guilty to the charge of "operating a ship in territorial waters without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other people."

Dorynek, who was represented by Advocate Christina Hall, also denied the grave and criminal assault charge and that of dangerous driving. Solicitor General Mark Temple said the Crown accepted those pleas and that the charges would remain on file.

He has been allowed to remain on bail until his sentencing.