By Megan Davies,Trinity Roads Committee

Copyright jerseyeveningpost

JURORS were this morning set to begin deliberations in the manslaughter trial of two Condor seamen at the helm during a 2022 collision which killed three fishermen.

Lewis Carr (30) and Artur Sevash-Zade (35) are facing three charges of manslaughter following the deaths of Michael Michieli, Larry Simyunn and Jervis Baligat, who died when their L’Ecume II fishing trawler collided with the Commodore Goodwill in December 2022.

The trial has, so far, lasted three weeks.

The collision prompted a major search-and-rescue operation involving a number of agencies and members of the fishing community. The bodies of Mr Simyunn and Mr Baligat were recovered near the wreck. Mr Michieli’s body was recovered some months later in a room below deck.

Summing up the prosecution case, Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit said that monitoring the fishing trawler “should not have been an especially challenging task for trained seamen” but that the communication between the two defendants had been “ineffective, almost non-existent”.

He added that both crewmen had concerned themselves with a series of non-urgent tasks when they should have been fully-focused on the possibility of a collision, contravening strict protocols that were in place.

In closing, Advocate Simon Thomas, defending Mr Carr, said the jury may think his client had made mistakes – but that these were not serious enough to be manslaughter.

He said that for a guilty verdict, the jury “have to be sure that the defendant’s actions are so exceptionally bad and reprehensible”.

“What sort of conduct is so exceptionally bad? Perhaps it is easier to think what isn’t. It is not making errors. It is not even making serious errors,” he said.

The defence had questioned whether the L’Ecume II had its fishing lights at the time of the collision. If the green-and-white lights were on, other ships had to navigate around her. If the lights were not on, L’Ecume II would have had to navigate around the Commodore Goodwill.

Meanwhile, Advocate Mike Preston, defending Mr Sevash-Zade, described a high turnover of “dispensable” Ukrainian crew, who didn’t get enough time to build rapport with officers. When giving evidence, the Goodwill’s captain couldn’t remember a lookout’s name.

He said Mr Sevash-Zade was obeying Mr Carr’s command and was “little more than an afterthought” in the prosecution’s case.

His client was “not even close” to the “exceptionally bad” behaviour required for a guilty verdict, he said.

“Finding that negligence was serious or very serious is not enough,” Advocate Preston said.

Mr Sevash-Zade “worked hard” and was “an honest man” who had left a job in Ukraine looking after vulnerable families for a job that would allow him to send more money to his family, he added.

The trial continues. Commissioner Sir John Saunders is presiding.