UK (3 June 2007) -- A British national's two-year suspended jail term, handed down after he was found guilty of causing the death of a diver while riding a hired jet ski in October 2001, was yesterday converted to a Lm1,000 fine after an Appeals Court ruled that the diver was partly to blame for the incident. David Rigglesford, who was 23 at the time of the incident, was found guilty of the involuntary homicide of Christian Curmi from Mellieha, 29, who was snorkelling wearing a wet suit and goggles around one kilometre from the area know as Tunny Net. The victim, who was married, had a two-year-old son and only one week before the incident baptised his two-month-old daughter. The Court of Criminal Appeal, presided over by Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono said that Mr Curmi was party to the blame for the incident in which he lost his life because he was not using appropriate equipment to show drivers of sea vessels of his presence. In its judgement, the Magistrates' Court said that Rigglesford "acted imprudently, carelessly, unskilfully and in violation of the rules he had signed to observe (when he rented the Yamaha 700 jet ski)". Mr Justice Galea Debono agreed with this but added that Mr Curmi was "at least partly to blame for the fatal accident in question by failing to keep a proper lookout and take proper precautions when he was approaching an unoccupied boat moored in the middle of a wide bay". | | Jet ski: It pollutes, it's noisy, it kills and it's all too common at resort areas throughout the world. He said the victim was not using the internationally recognised sign of his underwater activity and this, the court said, also contributed to the fatal incident as this sign "would have given the accused an earlier and unequivocal warning of the driver's presence, thus enabling him to take proper precautions". The Appeal Court therefore converted the two-year suspended jail term to a Lm1,000 fine and ordered him to pay only half the court-related expenses. Dr Stefano Filletti appeared for the accused. SOURCE - The Malta IndependentSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
