Speedboat driver fined £5k for “lifechanging” jet ski crash

Friday 15 February 2019

The driver of a speedboat that crashed into a jet ski, causing “lifechanging” injuries to a local lawyer that could have cost him his leg, has been fined £5,000 for the “careless” driving that caused the accident.

Michael Bartlomiej Dorynek (38) was handed this fine by the Royal Court this morning, as punishment for his involvement in a boat collision that left a local lawyer Giles Corbin threatened with having his leg amputated.

Dorynek admitted driving his speedboat “without due care and attention” on 9 July 2017 in St. Brelade’s Bay - carelessness which resulted in his boat colliding with the back of a jet ski upon which Mr Corbin was a passenger.

Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit appeared for the prosecution and summed up the case for the Bailiff Sir William Bailhache, presiding, and Jurats Blampied and Ramsden.

Pictured: Lawyer Giles Corbin who suffered "life changing" injuries after the crash in St. Brelade's Bay during the summer of 2017.

The Court heard that Dorynek was driving 'Severe Attitude' - the name of his Malibu Fletcher 1990 speedboat - with eight other people on board, including four young children, at the time of the crash. It was heard that Dorynek was taking the group out for a boat ride in the bay before the collision took place.

The Crown Advocate explained that “nobody onboard was wearing a life jacket or a buoyancy aid".

Meanwhile, another man and Mr Corbin were riding on the jet ski with the intention of heading to Elizabeth Harbour. 

The collision took place around 16:15 in the afternoon at the Western edge of the bay – far enough out that vessels don’t have to comply with speed restrictions. Passengers on the speedboat who provided witness statements gave an account of the accident which the Crown Advocate referred to whilst addressing the Court. 

The Crown Advocate said that one woman recalled the boat, driven by Dorynek, as going “fast to give the kids a bit of a ride”. 

Pictured: Michael Bartlomiej Dorynek appeared in the Royal Court for sentencing.

The jet ski driver recalled that he was travelling “in a straight line without deviation” at “approximately 20mph” when he “heard girls screaming".

The jet ski driver’s statement continued: “As I looked around to my left, to my horror we saw a white coloured vessel approaching us very rapidly.” The jet ski driver then describes the crash as “substantial impact” and the next thing he “remember[s] was seeing Giles some distance away… in the water".

One passenger on Dorynek's boat described “seeing the passenger of the jet ski fly over the boat as a result of the collision and land in the water".

The Crown Advocate described the collision as “more serious that a momentary lack in concentration", made worse by the fact Dorynek had “overloaded” his boat that was only meant for a maximum of five people, the “insufficient safety equipment on board”, the “significant and lifechanging injuries to Mr Corbin” and the fact there were lots of people in the bay that day.

In a victim statement from Mr Corbin read to the court by the Crown Advocate, the local lawyer said:  "The collision has turned my life upside down; nothing is the same as it was before."

Pictured: Mr Corbin said that his life has been "upside-down" as a result of the accident, which threatened him with amputation.

Mr Corbin also said the "the simple daily activities" that he used to perform "on autopilot are now more difficult if not impossible".

Mr Corbin added: "I will be affected by this for the rest of my life, I do not get a second, minute, hour or a day off."

Crown Advocate Maletroit then recommended that the Court impose a fine of £7,500 as well as asking for the speedboat to be destroyed. 

Contrastingly, in making her submissions to the Court, Defence Advocate Christina Hall emphasised that her client should get the full discount for his guilty plea as well as urging the Court to consider the “excessive delay” in this case. 

She questioned why the driver of the jet ski had not been charged, arguing that he “also failed to keep a proper lookout” and that, despite the fact “there is almost 50/50 culpability", just one defendant was being charged.

Pictured: Defence Advocate Christina Hall questioned why the jet ski driver hadn't also been charged in connection to the incident alongside her client.

The Defence Advocate also asked the Court to take into account her client’s “good character” as well as offering Dorynek’s “sincere apologies to Mr Corbin for the terrible injuries he has suffered".  "It is something that does haunt him," she remarked.

Having retired to consider their sentence, the Court settled on a financial penalty of £5,000. 

Handing down his sentence, the Bailiff explained that “both the jet ski operator and the defendant were at fault for this accident”, but that Dorynek’s carelessness was “serious".

Sir William also warned against the risks of going out to sea without life jackets. He said: “Each of the members of the Court have considerable experience of boating in this area… It is absolutely appropriate that you should go to sea properly equipped with life jackets. It is irresponsible to do otherwise [and] it is irresponsible to take children to sea without life jackets.”

The Court did not make an order to forfeit the boat for destruction, nor did the Bailiff award any legal costs to either side.