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Lai Sai-ming was at the wheel of Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry’s Sea Smooth. Photo: Edward Wong

Captain in Hong Kong’s Lamma ferry tragedy has appeal rejected: to serve full 8 years in jail

Court of Appeal judges block bid to have sentence reduced, saying the court has a duty to remind those in charge of vehicles of their responsibilities

JULIE CHU

Two Court of Appeal judges have blocked a bid to reduce the sentence handed to the captain who caused 39 deaths in the Lamma ferry tragedy in 2012, saying the court had a duty to remind those in charge of vehicles of their responsibilities to their passengers.

Mr Justice Andrew Macrae and Mr Justice Ian McWalters upheld the decision of a judge in an earlier trial to jail Lai Sai-ming for eight years.

Lai, 56, the captain of Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry’s Sea Smooth, had asked the court to reduce his jail term to 18 months.

READ MORE: Captain jailed over 39 deaths in Lamma ferry disaster appeals for reduction of eight-year jail sentence to 18 months

But Macrae wrote in the judgment that “there must be an element of deterrence, particularly for those who are entrusted with the carriage of passengers, whether they be the pilots of ferries or aeroplanes, or the drivers of vehicles, trains or trams, so that they will be deterred from conducting themselves in such a grossly negligent way that the lives of those who are in their charge are imperilled.

“It is vital that those so entrusted should be reminded by the courts of the gravity of their responsibilities, because the consequences for their passengers and others affected by their conduct, if they do not take those responsibilities seriously, can be catastrophic.”

He wrote: “Notwithstanding our concerns about the absence of any mention of deterrence in the judge’s reasons for sentence, the overall sentence of eight years’ imprisonment passed upon the applicant was, in our judgment, neither manifestly excessive nor wrong in principle.”

The accident occurred on October 1, 2012 in waters off Lamma Island, when Lai’s ferry rammed into Hong Kong Electric’s Lamma IV, which was full of the company’s employees and their family members on a trip to see the National Day fireworks display in Victoria Harbour.

Thirty-nine passengers of the Lamma IV died including eight children.

Lai was convicted in February of manslaughter and endangering the safety of others at sea and was jailed for eight years.

Lamma IV captain Chow Chi-wai was acquitted of manslaughter but convicted of endangering safety and jailed for nine months.

Lai said his sentence was excessive and asked for leave to appeal last week.

He argued the trial judge had placed too much focus on the tragic consequences of the collision and failed to give sufficient consideration to other contributing causes.

He also compared his case to a collision between two hydrofoils in which two people died. The captain in that case was only jailed for 18 months.

He argued these kinds of accidents were not prevalent and so there was no need to consider any deterrent element in sentencing.

But the judges did not accept his argument.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Death crash ferry captain loses bid to slash jail term
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