Skipper fined £26,000+ for going wrong way in Dover Strait

[Concerto]

A skipper of a day angling boat repeatedly heading in the wrong direction in the Traffic Separation Scheme on one day has been fined over £26,000.

Skipper fined £26,000+ for going wrong way in Dover Strait

 

[LittleSister]

It's an outrage!

What's the world coming to if you can't drive on the left in the English Channel and the Dover Strait?

 

[xyachtdave]

Expensive day out!

 

[Plum]

A skipper of a day angling boat repeatedly heading in the wrong direction in the Traffic Separation Scheme on one day has been fined over £26,000.

Skipper fined £26,000+ for going wrong way in Dover Strait

Your link returns "forbidden",,,,,,,,

 

[oldgit]

It's an outrage!

What's the world coming to if you can't drive on the left in the English Channel and the Dover Strait?

Have Reform ( Le Manche Dept) been told.

 

[seivadnehpets]

Your link returns "forbidden",,,,,,,,

working for me. think its your antivirus, it does seem to be a pretty basic site.

 

[seivadnehpets]

Have Reform ( Le Manche Dept) been told.

Simon Hughes, 64, of Marden in Kent, appeared at Maidstone Magistrates Court where he was ordered to pay a fine of £1,730, victim surcharge of £173 and prosecution costs of £25,000.

 

[seivadnehpets]

Have Reform ( Le Manche Dept) been told.

sorry, I meant to copy that to plum.

 

[LittleSister]

Your link returns "forbidden",,,,,,,,

It opened OK for me.

 

[ylop]

A skipper of a day angling boat repeatedly heading in the wrong direction in the Traffic Separation Scheme on one day has been fined over £26,000.

Skipper fined £26,000+ for going wrong way in Dover Strait

spectacularly stupid but I’d love to know the story behind this. Was it just a case of “nobody will know, nobody will catch me” or total ignorance of the rules?

The headline is misleading - it’s not a £26K fine it’s a much more sensible, but still very significant £1730 fine. Its the bizzare English prosecution costs that are the bulk of the total - I think that implies he pled not guilty? Again would be interesting to have heard what was said in court.

“Simon Hughes, 64, of Marden in Kent, appeared at Maidstone Magistrates Court where he was ordered to pay a fine of £1,730, victim surcharge of £173 and prosecution costs of £25,000.”

The real crime here is arguably that the state, having detected and prosecuted a crime get to charge prosecution costs so disproportionate to the fine itself - that seems to be at odds with the guidance: Prosecution costs – Sentencing

Whilst I expect most people here would be ok with Mr Hughes being fined £1730 for driving the wrong way down a TSS. We should all be quite concerned that when the MCA prosecute the total cost is massive. Tomorrow it might be you who is defending themselves against the power of the state.

 

[johnalison]

Although a yachtsman might get an annoying fine and a slap on the wrist if they wander badly, they are unlikely to behave as perversely as this bloke. On one occasion when we were in Dover an angling boat came in and a local sailor told us that he was one of the cowboys who went out basically as a professional fisherman to catch non-quota fish for sale to restaurants. I wouldn’t be surprised if the miscreant was one of these rather than just someone’s grandpa out for an afternoon’s fun.

 

[Juan Twothree]

spectacularly stupid but I’d love to know the story behind this. Was it just a case of “nobody will know, nobody will catch me” or total ignorance of the rules?

The boat in question has AIS so presumably he was telling the whole world what he was doing.

 

[LittleSister]

Although a yachtsman might get an annoying fine and a slap on the wrist if they wander badly, they are unlikely to behave as perversely as this bloke. On one occasion when we were in Dover an angling boat came in and a local sailor told us that he was one of the cowboys who went out basically as a professional fisherman to catch non-quota fish for sale to restaurants. I wouldn’t be surprised if the miscreant was one of these rather than just someone’s grandpa out for an afternoon’s fun.

I formed the impression from the description and name - ' a day angling vessel Reel Fun 2' - not to mention the size of the penalty, that this was one of those commercial outfits that takes paying anglers out for the day, but it's not clear.

 

[Juan Twothree]

I formed the impression from the description and name - ' a day angling vessel Reel Fun 2' - not to mention the size of the penalty, that this was one of those commercial outfits that takes paying anglers out for the day, but it's not clear.

Looks a bit small for that

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I get the impression that a lot of anglers who own boats simply regard the boat the same way as they regard their car - transport and nothing else. Because no license is required, they don't learn about the navigation rules. I'm not advocating licensing, but perhaps the RYA could target the angling community to raise awareness of ColRegs and TSS rules? I wouldn't be surprised if Mr Hughes simply wasn't aware of the TSS rules and of the penalties for breaking them - but ignorance of the law is not a defence.

I am surprised he chose to plead not guilty, assuming he did (the prosecution costs suggest that he pled not guilty) as the AIS evidence is clear, not to mention radar data that Dover might have. He would have avoided the vast majority of the amount he ended up with!

 

[ylop]

but perhaps the RYA could target the angling community to raise awareness of ColRegs and TSS rules?

Surely the MCA’s responsibility not the RYA’s? Whilst I’m sure some anglers are RYA members I guess the majority are not, and not really a sector the RYA targets

I am surprised he chose to plead not guilty, assuming he did (the prosecution costs suggest that he pled not guilty) as the AIS evidence is clear, not to mention radar data that Dover might have. He would have avoided the vast majority of the amount he ended up with!

Yes it does seem was found guilty at trial. ‘Rogue vessel’: Angler fined for sailing wrong way in busy Dover Strait shipping lane

Not sure the balance of justice is great for anyone who finds themselves prosecuted by the MCA:
- accept your guilt, get a big fine and some prosecution costs
- found guilty at trial, get an even bigger fine and much higher prosecution costs
- found not guilty after trial, won’t get all your own costs paid!

The “overwhelming evidence” argument is of course why many sub-postmasters were persuaded to plead guilty to things they didn’t do. I mean going down the TSS the wrong way and broadcasting his location on AIS would be spectacularly stupid (although does somewhat contradict the MCA suggestion in the press release of commercial traffic having no idea of his presence!), his defence would have been interesting to hear. Sadly court reporters are a thing of the past and so we only hear these stories when the MCA as victors publish a press release!

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Wasn't there a skipper of one of the round the world races on a training outing done for the same thing quite a while back.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Surely the MCA’s responsibility not the RYA’s? Whilst I’m sure some anglers are RYA members I guess the majority are not, and not really a sector the RYA targets

The RYA could operate through Angling societies and magazines. And while it may not be the anglers' main focus, they are amateur recreational boaters, a constituency the RYA claims to represent. The MCA tends to be more interested in commercial operations; amateurs are very peripheral for them unless they break the rules!

 

[SaltIre]

...

 

[justanothersailboat]

Even if you'd never tried to learn the rules, I think you'd have to be a bit hard of thinking to look at the Dover Strait and think "let's mess about in the middle there where all the big ships are"! No?