A 14-year-old boy was not wearing a life jacket when he drowned in a water-tubing incident on Christmas Eve, a court has heard.
Shaun Joseph Looby, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of general obligation on persons involved with operation of ship to operate it safely causing death in Maryborough Magistrates Court on Monday.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Sonia Edwards said Hayden Nance, his stepfather Looby and his mother Marissa Looby had taken their boat on the Mary River at Owanyilla, in south-east Queensland.
Looby was licensed at the time and the boat was registered with all the necessary safety equipment onboard, including life jackets.
The court heard it was the first time Hayden had been tubing.
Hayden (pictured left) fell out of the tube, took a few swimming strokes and then went under water on Christmas Eve
Shaun Joseph Looby (pictured) pleaded guilty to one count of general obligation on persons involved with operation of ship to operate it safely causing death
Ms Edwards said Ms Looby purchased the ski tube which was found to be in good condition when later examined by police, the Cairns Post reported.
Hayden was given a safety briefing by Looby, including how to get in the tube, where to hang on and hand signals.
Hayden didn’t want to wear a life jacket, saying he was over the age of 12, and Looby and Mrs Looby objected but decided against having ‘a big argument’ over it.
He began tubing for a second time that day about 10am, while the the boat was travelling about 25km/h, the court heard.
In footage provided to police, Looby appeared to be driving ‘very sedately’ when towing the tube and there were no significant turns or doughnuts being done.
It is understood that Hayden fell out of the tube, took a few swimming strokes and then went under water.
Mrs Looby quickly told her partner who turned around and jumped into the water to look for Hayden after he did not resurface, but he was unable to find him due to poor visibility in the muddy water.
His hysterical mother jumped in to assist with the search before climbing back on board and calling triple-0.
She also set off a signal flare to try to get another person’s attention.
Divers were called in, who later found Hayden’s body, and an autopsy confirmed the cause of death was drowning.
Ms Edwards said legislation stated that skiers must wear a life jacket, and that wearing one would have allowed Hayden to stay upright and be located in the water
‘It’s still unsure what would have happened then, but he would not have sunk into the river where visibility was low and people could not locate him at the time,’ she said.
‘It’s a situation where all parties have suffered, family members, Mr Looby, and any punishment that the court could place on Mr Looby is not going to change the situation and how he would feel about the situation.’
Mrs Looby (pictured right) was in court supporting her husband, who had been fully cooperative with police in the wake of the tragedy
Mrs Looby was in court supporting her husband, who had been fully cooperative with police in the wake of the tragedy.
Defence lawyer Andrew Bale said the incident had a ‘devastating’ effect on the family and that they sold the boat after it was seized and released by detectives.
‘The last thing they want of course is for the boat to be sitting in the front driveway reminding everyone of what occurred,’ he said.
Magistrate John Milburn accepted the family had suffered and said it was a tragic incident but he needed to consider general deterrence in his sentencing.
Looby was fined $1500 and no conviction was recorded.
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