Father of Emily Lewis, of Fareham, said family turned off life-support machine due to severity of injuries from speedboat crash, court told

L: Emily Lewis, 15, of Park Gate, Fareham, who died after a speedboat collided into a metal buoy. R: The boat which crashed into the metal buoy.

THE father of a girl who was killed in a speedboat accident told a court they decided to turn off her life-support system due to the severity of her injuries.

Emily Lewis, 15, from Park Gate, Fareham, suffered ‘unsurvivable’ injuries after a boat slammed into a metal buoy in the Solent at 10.11am on August 22, 2020.

Emily’s dad, Simon Lewis, told Winchester Crown Court on Friday he booked the ride for his family to ‘treat’ his girls and ‘have fun’. He said: ‘Because it was the middle of lockdown we hadn’t booked a holiday but had booked time off work, we looked on Groupon and saw the offer Seadogz was running.’

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Photo issued by Hampshire Police of Emily Lewis, 15, of Park Gate, Fareham, who died after a speedboat collided into a metal buoy. Picture: Hampshire Police/PA Wire

Mr Lewis added the boat captain, Michael Lawrence, 55, who is accused of gross negligence manslaughter, provided a safety briefing explaining what to do if the boat took on water or if someone was thrown overboard. He said: ‘It was definitely something he had said many times, he was practised in giving this information in a serious enough way but it was also funny and happy.’

Mr Lewis said the song Who Let the Dogs Out was playing on the rigid inflatable boat (Rib) as it left. He added he found a ‘long sweeping’ manoeuvre carried out by the Rib as ‘unnerving’ but they were having ‘fun’.

The father the boat struck the boy after it crossed the wake of the Isle of Wight ferry. He said: ‘We hit the buoy and glanced, the boat went to the right, I was thrown forward very violently, I hit my face and my knee and wrist on the seat in front.

‘I do not know if I was knocked out, there is a very small amount of time I do not remember. I was incredibly winded, couldn’t catch my breath for 30 seconds.’ Mr Lewis said he checked on his other daughter Amy, 18, who kept saying “I have broken my arm”.

Police confirmed the rib struck this green buoy (circled) in Southampton water. Picture: Simon Czapp/Solent News & Photo Agency

He added he saw Emily ‘scooched down in front of her seat’, saying she couldn’t breath. Mr Lewis said Emily was ‘unconscious’ and ‘unable to speak’ after she was helped onto a bench. He added: ‘That was the first time I noticed her lips were turning blue and even with my limited knowledge I knew that wasn’t a good thing.’

He said Lawrence had been using his mobile phone and he had alerted him to the boat taking on water. Mr Lewis said: ‘He made a derisory scoff at me as if to say “Well we are not going to sink”.’

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Jurors heard Mr Lewis found out Emily had suffered oxygen deprivation to the brain at the hospital. ‘They tried to explain to us that because of what happened to her, because of her injuries, they think at the time she didn’t have enough oxygen it would be very detrimental to her brain,’ Mr Lewis said.

Photo issued by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) of a sight-seeing boat which crashed killing a 15-year-old girl. Picture: MAIB/PA Wire.

He added they agreed for her life support to be turned off and agreed with prosecutor, Caroline Agnew KC, that they took this decision because it was ‘not how Emily would have wished to live’.

Lawrence, of Blackfield, denies manslaughter by gross negligence, failing to maintain a proper lookout and failing to proceed at a safe speed. Michael Howley, 52, owner of Seadogz, denies not operating the boat safely. The trial continues.