This is the moment a speedboat driver crashed into a 15-year-old kayaker with a vessel full of passengers.
Adam Russell, 28, was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for the incident on August 11, 2024, on the River Cleddau in Wales.
Swansea Crown Court heard how the crash, near Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire, wrecked the teenage boy's one-person kayak.
The unnamed victim was left with cuts and bruising to his arms and lower lip - and has not returned to water sports since the 'terrifying' incident.
Russell had been seated steering a single-engine speedboat, White Mischief, upstream at unsafe speeds of up to 25mph.
He was carrying six passengers, including children, when the bow lifted and obscured his vision.
The 15-year-old victim was in the water with his father and friends in brightly coloured kayaks and wearing red personal floatation devices.
The young kayaker spotted Russell's vessel approaching and tried to paddle out of the way.
But, unable to see the danger, Russell changed course and struck the kayak, driving over the victim and throwing him into the water.
In addition to the suspended prison term, Russell must complete 15 hours of required activity and 200 hours unpaid work.
He must also pay his victim a total of £1,676 in compensation for damage to property and personal injury, plus £3,000 prosecution costs.
It is the first prosecution under the Merchant Shipping (Watercraft) Order 2023, introduced in 2024.
The act empowers prosecution of anyone who puts others at risk by using powered watercraft of any size in a dangerous manner, including small motorboats and jet skis.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency investigator Paul Atkins said: "This case shows the importance of keeping a proper lookout and operating safely.
"It was a very close call – if circumstances had been only slightly different, there could have been a terrible tragedy.
"This prosecution, the first under new watercraft safety laws, sends a clear signal that people flouting the requirements that keep us all safe on the water are liable to be held accountable for their actions."
Comments