A SPEEDBOAT owner yesterday admitted he had not been aware of the
navigational code of conduct for Loch Lomond until after an accident
involving his vessel in which a mother of two was killed.
Mrs Ann McAuley, 30, of Pinkerton Avenue, Rutherglen, Glasgow, died
after two speedboats collided in the dark near Inchmurrin island last
June. Six other people, four men and two women, also were injured.
She was travelling to the island with her best friend and fellow
hairdresser Elizabeth Murphy, 27, when the accident occurred.
The two women had asked Mr Ronald Cunliffe, 30, of Silverknowes Drive,
Edinburgh, and his friend if they could take them on their boat from
Duck Bay marina to the island where they had arranged to meet friends.
But less than five minutes after leaving the marina the boat was
struck by another speedboat, the Ski II, owned by the Loch Lomond Water
Ski Club.
Mr Cunliffe admitted to a fatal accident inquiry at Dumbarton Sheriff
Court that he had not been aware of the ''rules of road'' for boats on
the loch.
A director of an engineering merchants', Mr Cunliffe said he was a
part-owner of the 150hp power boat, which he had bought with a friend
three months earlier. He said he had about five years' experience of
driving speedboats although he had driven only once at night before the
crash.
He still had not learned the code of conduct because he said he would
never go on a boat again, and added that he relied on the principles of
safe-car driving. He also admitted difficulty identifying the purpose of
certain light switches on the boat.
Asked by procurator-fiscal Malcolm McLeod if he had felt he had
complied with the regulations as he was driving the boat after dark, Mr
Cunliffe replied: ''I suppose there was a bit of a risk.''
The fiscal said the code of conduct for the loch included
recommendations for boats that speed was reduced, they were not used
after dark, people in charge did not drink and drive, and an observer be
used at all times.
Mr Cunliffe admitted he had made the boat ''zig-zag'' slightly after
leaving Duck Bay to show off. He said he had drunk ''one or maybe
one-and-a-half glasses of wine and a strong bottle of cider'' during the
course of day although he had little or nothing to eat.
He also admitted driving the boat at speeds of between 38 and 42mph
during the journey of about five minutes between Duck Bay and
Inchmurrin. He considered this was not excessive because it was a clear
night. He could see the clear outline of the island when he set out.
He said the boat was travelling about 10 to 15mph just before the
accident as it approached Inchmurrin. ''I wasn't sure about rocks in the
area. When it is an #8000 boat you are fairly careful about that sort of
thing.''
He steered a straight course for the island and saw a green light as
he approached which was going away from his boat at right angles.
But as he dropped his boat's speed to about 15mph on approach to the
jetty he realised the other boat was coming towards him.
He told the inquiry: ''I said under my breath what is this . . . .
playing at? Then there was a deadly silence. In a matter of seconds
there was an almighty crash.
''I didn't see what had hit us before it hit. Whether I closed my eyes
or lost sight of it. It was silence and then a bang.''
Ms Murphy, of Millburn Road, Renfrew, earlier described how she had
smiled at her friend seconds before she died.
The women had been apprehensive about going with the men but thought
they were ''nice and pleasant''. The men, she said, had been drinking
but were not drunk.
Minutes after leaving Duck Bay the boat slowed down and there was a
sudden thud.
Ms Murphy, who has suffered post-traumatic stress and still takes
anti-depressants and sleeping tablets, said she was thrown into the
middle of the boat. When she looked up she saw Mrs McAuley hanging over
the boat as if she was being sick.
Ms Murphy said she called Mrs McAuley's name and told her she would be
okay but there was no response. The two men put her on the back seat.
''Her face was really dirty,'' she said. ''I knew she was dead.'' Mr
Cunliffe's attempts to resuscitate Mrs McAuley were unsuccessful.
She admitted she had told police in a statement that she felt Mr
Cunliffe had been at fault. ''All I know is that my friend and I got
into his boat. I got out and she didn't.''
The inquiry continues before Sheriff Principal Robert Hay.
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