Seaman who severed snorkeler's foot found guilty of sailing without license or insurance

A court has fined a man €5500 and disqualified him from holding a boat license for a year after it found him guilty of sailing a dinghy before his license had been issued and causing an accident which cost a snorkeler his foot.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace heard how John Bonello, 31, from Swieqi, had been at the helm of a dinghy off the coast of San Blas il-Baħar, Gozo in May 2009 when, in a horrific accident, it had struck a snorkeler on the surface. The snorkeler had testified how, while he was still on the surface, he had noticed a dinghy heading towards him and tried to get out of its path by diving again. Unfortunately for the snorkeler, he could not move out of the way in time and the dinghy hit him, severing his left foot from the ankle.

The victim had testified that no marker buoys had been deployed at the time of the incident, as he and his buddy had only just entered the water and were in the process of deciding whether to continue with the dive or not.

The court heard how the accused, Bonello, was trying out the dinghy in question with a view to purchasing it and had been accompanied by two men – one of whom, Nicola Gambino, was the licensed owner of the dinghy, but that it was Bonello who had been in control of it at the time.

Under cross examination by the defence, prosecuting police inspector Frank Tabone had confirmed that Bonello’s license had been issued that same day. He had questioned Bonello, who had told him that he had just passed his test and that he was just waiting for the license, a fact confirmed by Transport Malta. Bonello told the court that he had simply not picked up the license out of laziness.

One of the other men in the dinghy at the time had testified that they were not travelling at speed, so much so that they heard the shouts for help and immediately turned the vessel around to assist.

Asked by the court why Bonello had been at the helm and not Gambino, who was the registered owner, the witness said it was “because Bonello had the license”. The witness added that both he and the accused had sat for the certification test in basic seamanship approximately a month before the incident, but only Bonello had passed. Bonello told the court that he was under the impression that, having been certified, he was automatically entitled to a nautical license.

Gambino, who was to face separate proceedings but was never traced, had allegedly shown the two men some documents which showed that the vessel was insured, and the men had apparently taken it as given that they were therefore covered.

The court found Bonello guilty of both operating a sea-vessel without a license and operating a sea-vessel without insurance, fining him €5,500 and disqualifying him from holding a license for twelve months. However, in view of the fact that the injured snorkeler was snorkeling in open sea without a marker buoy, the court chose not to condemn the accused to pay the costs involved in the magisterial inquiry.