A WEALTHY businessman allegedly killed his Scots best friend “showing off” to a group of guests on board his £1 million luxury yacht when he crashed a jet-powered boat he was driving into its swimming platform, a court heard.
Millionaire Aaron Brown was piloting the rigid inflatable boat at 30mph when it ploughed into the back of the 62ft long Fairline Targa yacht, called True Blue.
His friend of 20 years Ryan McKinlay, was on board the RIB and was being filmed by his wife, Fran, on a mobile phone from her vantage point on the yacht.
But tragedy struck when Brown, 34, lost control of the smaller boat and it crashed into the swimming platform of the back of the yacht.
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The distressing footage showing the moment of impact was shown to jurors as the two men on board the small RIB - which was skimming over the water’s surface - were thrown into the air.
Father-of-one Mr McKinlay, 36, was sitting at the front of the boat and the platform struck him in the chest, propelling him into the water lying face down.
He died from his injuries in hospital following the accident off Osborne Bay, Isle of Wight, on the sunny afternoon of June 19, 2015.
Mr Brown, from Curbridge near Southampton, Hampshire, denies a charge of manslaughter by reason of gross negligence.
He wept throughout the prosecution’s opening of the case at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire.
Nick Tucker, prosecuting, told the court: “This case arises out of a collision between two boats which occurred on the Solent in the summer of 2015. The collision resulted in the death of a man named Ryan McKinlay. Mr McKinlay was a passenger in a jet boat driven by Aaron Brown. The collision occurred as Mr Brown inadvertently drove that boat at high speed into the rear of another vessel.”
Mr Brown is a senior business figure in Hampshire, running the telecommunications firm OneCom in Whiteley, Hants.
Speaking in July last year Mr McKinlay’s wife Fran said a “huge void” had been left in his family’s lives.
The trial continues and is expected to last two weeks.
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