BOAT SKIPPER FINED FOR MISUSE OF FLARES
The skipper of a former fishing vessel
has been ordered to pay £3,825 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to
firing rocket distress flares when not in need of immediate help.
A red distress rocket flare was fired
just before the boat torch light
procession at this year's Salcombe Harbour Festival - popular with participants
and spectators - landing on heathland, whilst still
burning.
Harbour Master Ian Gibson identified
and spoke to the culprit Matthew Yeoman, a 50-year-old from Salcombe, and owner of the
converted fishing boat Etoile, as it was clear he was not in need of assistance.
Two further rocket flares were later
fired further out into the harbour amongst moored boats. This resulted in calls
to Brixham Coastguard and a response from the Hope Cove and Salcombe lifeboats.
Yeoman was spoken to by the lifeboat
crews on his boat and admitted to firing the further flares, though not in need
of assistance. The flares used by Yeoman had expired in December
2004.
When interviewed about the matter,
Yeoman admitted to firing the flares, during the event, on August 8.
Yeoman appeared before Torquay
Magistrates' Court today where he pleaded guilty.
In sentencing, the Court took into
consideration his full cooperation with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and
his early guilty plea.
The Chair of the Bench told Yeoman:
"You are a professional seaman. You should have known better."
Yeoman was fined £750 for the offence,
ordered to pay costs of £3,000 and a victim surcharge of £75.
Peter Davies, Brixham Coastguard
Rescue Centre Manager, said: "There is only one purpose for discharging a
distress flare and that is to request immediate assistance when in grave and
imminent danger.
"This type of foolish action will
undermine the purpose of distress flares, which are internationally recognised
as a distress alerting signal. Red flare sightings will be reported to us and if
it’s a false alert, it is a waste of the emergency services' time and effort. If
our rescue resources are deployed investigating a false alert it could
potentially put lives at risk if someone else is involved in a real emergency.
"Distress flares are pyrotechnics and
they rapidly ascend when fired. If handled incorrectly they can be dangerous.
Thankfully, no one was injured and no property damaged - but it could have
turned out very differently."