R. v. Broadwith

In Personal Injury and Maritime Law on (Updated )

The accused was the Captain of a houseboat that capsized resulting in the death of a passenger. He was charged with criminal negligence causing death. Although the Court accepted the evidence of the Crown’s expert that the house boat was overloaded and was destined to capsize because of this, the Court held that the Crown had failed to prove the Captain’s conduct amounted to criminal negligence. One of the critical findings leading to the acquittal was that the Captain was not aware there were an excessive number of passengers on board. The sinking occurred because two passengers pushed the boat away from the dock before the Captain had given his safety speech and before he could count the number of passengers onboard.