The owner of a RHIB that smashed into a yacht rendering it useless has been fined £1,500 in court.

The 28ft yacht ‘Charlotte-Anne’ was moored at Killyleagh, in Northern Ireland, when the RHIB ‘Red Rubber’ crashed into its side.

Portaferry RNLI attended the incident, which occurred around 2am on 13 July, 2012.

Ralph Carson, 56, from Killyleagh, who owned the RHIB, was sentenced at Downpatrick Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

He had pleaded guilty to three charges: failing to take reasonable steps to ensure that it was operated in a safe manner, failing to navigate it safely, and failing to keep a lookout.

Carson was fined £500 for each of the three charges.

Carson, who was navigating at the time of the incident, was also ordered to pay an offender’s charge of £15.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) assisted police in bringing about the prosecution.

Bill Bennett, area operations manager for Northern Ireland for the MCA, said: ‘It is very important that all vessels navigate safely, have a proper passage planned and maintain a good lookout at all times. Failure to do so could result in catastrophic consequences.’

Picture: Portaferry RNLI. Credit: RNLI