It’s a tough week this week for the now 43-year-old man. Two years ago, he was the boat driver in a speed boat accident in Byfjorden in Bergen. Now it will be decided whether he should be punished for having caused the death of his then 11-year-old son. Heard his son’s voice After the boat went round, the father suffered an injury to his left arm which was completely paralysed. When he ended up in the water, he heard his son shouting under the boat, he tried to get there, but his entire left arm was paralyzed. Prosecutor and defense attorney in court today in connection with the accident in Byfjorden in Bergen. Photo: John Inge Johansen / news – When people arrived at the scene, I shouted that they had to jump in because my son was under the boat. But everyone said we had to wait for the fire brigade. When they eventually came and got him up, I saw that they started cardiac compressions, the father explained. He stopped several times in his explanation, and had difficulty controlling his voice. – After this, it has been as if the world came crashing down, he said. Further in his explanation, he talked about how his interest in fast boats was something he shared with his son and that he had extensive experience driving this type of boat. For the first time, prosecutor Are Nygård Bergh, acting state prosecutor, and the man who is now facing charges met. – I guess we can say hello, said Bergh before the court started. I know how you feel, he added. – No one knows how I feel, the man replied back. The trial takes place in the district court’s premises in C. Sundts gate Photo: John Inge Johansen / news In his introductory speech, Bergh said that the boat, a catamaran with two 300 horsepower engines, has a top speed of 172 to 174 kilometers per hour. – GPS data shows that the speed around the time of the accident is 169.2 kilometers per hour, said Bergh. This is contested by the defendant. He believes that the boat can go at close to 185 km/h and emphasizes that it is a boat that is designed to maintain high speed, said defender Ellen Eikeseth Mjøs in her opening speech. In addition, it is inaccurate to use the GPS to estimate the speed of the boat, because the updates are not continuous but with a pause between each. – Already received a life sentence – My client has already received a life sentence, said Eikeseth Mjøs earlier this summer. She now says that no statements will be made beyond what is explained in court. Her client wants peace and quiet about the legal process. Defender Ellen Eikeseth Mjøs will not give further comments right now. Photo: John Inge Johansen / news She adds to the court that she hoped the man could explain himself behind closed doors, but sees that it could be difficult, and she encourages the media to show caution in the coverage. – It is important for us to get the court’s decision on whether the defendant has been negligent or not. And thus the court’s decision on whether he should be sentenced for negligent homicide, says the prosecutor in the case, State Attorney Are Nygård Bergh. The boat was going around at almost 170 kilometers per hour, according to data that the police have obtained from a mobile phone that was on board. Photo: John Inge Johansen / news The Criminal Code has a provision on what is called a waiver of sentencing. In other words – the prosecutor can request that no penalty be imposed. It can be done in cases where “completely special reasons dictate it” and the penalty “will seem like an unreasonable additional burden”. – Yes, but waiving sentencing according to Section 61 of the Criminal Code is, in a way, an alternative to a failure to prosecute. So here it will probably be appropriate to have a reaction, either in the form of an unconditional sentence or a conditional prison sentence. Whether it will be one or the other, it is too early to say anything about, says Bergh. – A beloved son – The family stands together both in grief and in relation to the case. They are asking for peace and quiet around the court process, said Mjøs this summer. She says the family describes the boy as passionate about boats. – The boy loved to drive a boat with his father. This was a hobby the two of them had together. What was supposed to be a happy day, and one of the last boat trips of the year, ended fatally. The boat accident in September 2022 will now be brought before the Hordaland district court. Photo: LARS CHRISTIAN WALLACE The grief over having lost the boy affects the family strongly, Mjøs points out when news spoke to her. Ended up in the water “The driver kept too high a speed for the conditions and/or did not pay enough attention, with the result that the boat overturned when it hit a wave,” the indictment states. The weather was fine and pleasant on the day in question, and there was little wind. But the police believe that waves from a fast boat that left the harbor just before may have contributed to what happened next. After the boat capsized, the son ended up in the water under the boat, and died ten days later in Haukeland hospital as a result of drowning. The driver and another passenger also ended up in the water and were injured when they were thrown out of the boat. – I don’t recognize myself in the interrogations by the police and the speed they describe. I pulled the throttle to zero. It is the angle to the wave that causes us to capsize, it is not the speed, said the driver. No blood alcohol level – When it comes to legal practice, there are a number of examples of negligent homicide involving the driving of a recreational boat, but there are probably none quite like this one. Most of the cases concerning negligent homicide and recreational boating have a blood alcohol level involved, but that is not the case here, says Bergh. Ingrid Aksnes is a lawyer assisting the mother. Photo: John Inge Johansen / news The legal aid attorney for the boy’s mother said that no compensation claim will be made. Four days have been set aside for processing the case. Published 27.08.2024, at 13.05
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Boy (11) died in a boat accident with a speedboat in the Byfjorden in Bergen – the father appears in court – news Vestland
