Cheeki Rafiki yacht deaths: Boss 'in pub' as crew sought help
- Published
Yachting crew members James Male, Andrew Bridge, Steve Warren and Paul Goslin all died
A company boss on trial over the deaths of four sailors continued drinking in a pub after he received an "urgent email" warning him their yacht was taking on water, a court has heard.
The crew of the Cheeki Rafiki yacht all died after the 40ft vessel capsized in the Atlantic in May 2014.
Douglas Innes, director of Stormforce Coaching Limited, is subject of a retrial charged with four counts of manslaughter by gross negligence.
He denies all of the charges.
Skipper Andrew Bridge, 22, from Farnham in Surrey, James Male, 22, from Romsey, Hampshire, Steve Warren, 52, from Bridgwater in Somerset and Paul Goslin, 56, from West Camel in Somerset, died after the yacht lost its keel more than 700 miles from Nova Scotia in Canada.
The overturned hull of the Cheeki Rafiki after it was discovered by a U.S. Navy warship east of Cape Cod
Prosecutor Nigel Lickley QC told Winchester Crown Court that Mr Innes, 43, had received an email marked "urgent" from the crew on the evening of 15 May 2014 which said the boat was taking on water.
He said Mr Innes, of Whitworth Crescent in Southampton, was in a pub when he replied, telling the sailors to make sure the life raft was ready to abandon ship.
"Despite that and what was happening at sea, he didn't call the UK Coastguard to alert them of the situation at that time, but he went to another pub nearer to his home and carried on drinking," Mr Lickley told the court.
Mr Lickley said Mr Innes did go home later and called the coastguard but "didn't report any urgency".
Douglas Innes denies four counts of manslaughter by gross negligence
The court was also told by Mr Lickley that Mr Innes had neglected the "unsafe" vessel for several years by failing to maintain it.
He said Mr Innes had a "duty of care" to the four men "not to put cost over their safety".
The yacht was found by a container ship on 17 May, two days after the email was sent, with its life raft still on board.
The trial continues.