Motor boat driver prosecuted by Environment Agency for anti-social behaviour during Kingston Regatta
The convicted driver was ordered to pay over £4,000 in fines
One was at a regatta where a pleasure boat with three persons on board was reported to be deliberately interfering with a regatta. During Kingston Regatta, in July 2024, a ‘pleasure’ motor boat, containing three passengers, was driven onto the racing course (which subject to a river closure) and then moved upstream towards the crews marshalling at the start, travelling at speed and washing down crews in the navigation channel. There was considerable verbal abuse from the driver throughout the incident, which was recorded on video and reported to the Environment Agency as the local Navigation Authority and to the Police.
The driver of the boat was subsequently charged with five offences, four of them relating to the incident at the regatta. The offences were:
- Failing to comply with a Harbour Master’s Notice (there was a river restriction in force at the time)
- Obstructing or interfering with a boat race and endangering the safety of persons assembled
- Using abusive or threatening behaviour
- Navigating without due care and attention
- Navigating in an unregistered vessel.
The Environment Agency barrister made a point of taking the court through the statements and then played the video evidence to show the nature of the incident, how dangerous and abusive the driver’s behaviour had been. The court grasped the gravity of the incident and found that the incident was shocking in its totality; there was clear criminality and the driver’s actions had endangered other people and put young people in particular who were involved in the racing at risk. The barrister argued that the matter needed to be dealt with robustly to send the appropriate message that this kind of behaviour would not be tolerated. On this basis the court was able to justify going outside the Band A fine range usually applied in these types of cases.
The fines were:
- £50 for breaching the Harbour Master’s Notice
- £1,000 for the obstructing/endangering offence (the maximum penalty for this)
- £440 for using offensive and threatening behaviour
- £1,000 for navigating without care an attention (the maximum penalty for this)
- £220 for not registering the vessel.
He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £1084, compensation of £265.54 for the registration fee and £275 costs, making a total of £4,334.54. This shows the value of collecting clear and objective evidence and providing it to the Navigation Authority.
Environment Agency Operations Manager Maria Herlihy said, “This incident was a disgrace. [The driver] showed no regard for the safety of other river users and could easily have caused a tragedy. We hope that this serves as a clear warning to all – anti-social and dangerous behaviour on our rivers will not be tolerated, and we will take robust action to deal with those who disregard the rules and regulations for boating on the River Thames.”
Further details of the incident and the prosecution are available in the Environment Agency’s Press Release.
