Veteran British judge to preside over trial of captains in Lamma ferry disaster

A former British judge who handled landmark post-handover constitutional cases presides at the trial starting today of two skippers involved in the 2012 National Day ferry collision that killed 39 passengers.

Deputy High Court judge Mr Justice Brian Keith recently rejoined the Hong Kong judiciary after retiring from the High Court in England in April. He was a High Court judge in Hong Kong from 1991 to 2001.

Chow Chi-wai, 58, coxswain of Hongkong Electric's Lamma IV, and Lai Sai-ming, 56, coxswain of Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry's Sea Smooth, are each charged with 39 counts of manslaughter.

Chow is represented by British shipping specialist James Turner QC and Gerard McCoy SC, while Lai is represented at the trial by Audrey Campbell-Moffat SC. The prosecution team for the trial - which is slated to last 60 days - is led by Andrew Bruce SC.

Chow and Lai are accused of unlawfully killing 39 people by gross negligence in the collision of the two ferries off Lamma on October 1, 2012.

Court documents say Chow owed a duty of care to his passengers and Lai to other vessels and their passengers. They were allegedly in breach of that duty of care by failing to keep a proper lookout and to take any effective measures to avoid the collision.