The sentencing of the seaman who was in charge of a Condor freight ship when it hit a fishing trawler in December 2022, killing its three crew members, is underway in the Royal Court.
Lewis Carr, 31, was convicted at the end of September of one count of endangering ships, structures and individuals at sea after a four-week trial. The jury couldn’t make a decision on a more serious manslaughter charge.
He is being sentenced today by the inferior number of the Royal Court. It will mark the first time in Jersey that sentencing remarks will be allowed to be filmed and broadcast.
Carr was the most senior crew member on the bridge of the freight ship at the time of the collision with the L’Ecume II, at 5.35am on 8 December 2022.
The collision killed all three people on board the fishing trawler: skipper Michael Michieli (62) and his crew, Larry Simyunn (33) and Jervis Baligat (31).
Speaking in the Royal Court this morning, Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit, prosecuting, said Carr had failed to keep a proper lookout and failed to use the equipment available to him.
“The cumulative effect of these failings was causative of the collision,” the advocate said.
He said that Carr had been “negligent”, adding that, if the officer had acted “competently” in his role, “the collision simply wouldn’t have happened”.
The Royal Court is due to hear from Carr’s defence lawyer, Advocate Simon Thomas, this afternoon before his sentence is decided.
When a decision is made by the court, the judge’s sentencing remarks are due to be filmed and broadcast – a first in the island.
The Bailiff, Robert MacRae, said this was being introduced in an effort to make the courts more open and transparent.
Commissioner Sir John Saunders is presiding and Lieutenant-Bailiff Jane Ronge and Jurat Karen Le Cornu are sitting.