Maritime New Zealand prosecuted Patrick George Perkins in the wake of the collision near Albert Town on December 30, 2022, charging him with operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk to others on 16 occasions in the 11 days leading up to the collision.
At Perkins’ sentencing in the Queenstown District Court today, Judge Mark Williams said the male victim spent 13 days on life support in Dunedin Hospital’s intensive care unit, and was placed in a deep coma for over a week.
About 2pm, the couple packed up their gear and had just started their boat in preparation to leave the island.
At the same time, Perkins was taking four paying passengers on a thrill ride in one of the company’s two vessels.
Because of the line he chose to perform a close pass of the island, near willow trees, he was unable to take evasive action, striking the couple’s vessel at about 65kmh, Judge Williams said.
‘‘Your boat travelled up on top of and alongside the driver's side of the boat, where the male victim was sitting, before returning to the water.’’
The male victim, who was briefly knocked out, suffered serious injuries including eight broken ribs, other chest injuries, severe bruising and cuts.
He was retrieved from the island by helicopter about 35 minutes later and flown to Dunedin Hospital.
Perkins had driven around the head of the island in a way that meant he could not see any concealed vessels or objects, and had taken a similar line on other thrill rides over the previous 10 days.
‘‘It was not therefore an isolated incident.
‘‘There were 16 trips in which Mr Perkins took the same line . . . effectively going around a blind corner.’’
The man’s recovery had been ‘‘long and slow’’ with ongoing pain and disrupted sleep, and he was unable to walk without assistance for five months.
The couple — who observed yesterday’s hearing by audiovisual link — had also suffered a ‘‘significant emotional impact’’.
At the time of the collision, Go Jets had been offering thrill and scenic cruise jet-boat rides to customers on the river since 2016.
Perkins was its sole director, and he and his wife, a 50% shareholder, were its only employees.
Judge Williams said the offending was aggravated by the fact the defendant held a commercial jet-boat operator certificate, which placed his culpability at the higher end of the scale.
‘‘Those who operate in the industry are expected to know and recognise the risks, and perform at the top of their game in order to avoid injuries to others.’’
Maritime New Zealand’s counsel had been right to say jet-boating and other adventure tourism activities were conducted on the basis of ‘‘perceived risk’’, not actual risk.
‘‘They should always be conducted safely — this is a critical part of adventure tourism.’’
He applied discounts for Perkins’ guilty plea, expression of remorse, previous good character, and his early payment of $46,717 reparation to the couple, to settle on a fine of $4950.
The amount of reparation already paid, which covered the damage to the victims’ boat as well as emotional harm, was appropriate, he said.
- By Guy Williams
- PIJF court reporter
