KAMLOOPS – The erratic driving of a speedboat owner is to blame for a fatal crash on Shuswap Lake.
Leon Reinbrecht was found guilty Tuesday of criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
Houseboat operator Ken Brown was killed in the late-night collision with the speedboat following fireworks on Canada Day in 2010.
The smaller boat was embedded into the houseboat.
At trial, multiple witnesses testified Reinbrecht’s boat was zigzagging and doing donuts on the busy lake just before the crash.
“Mr. Reinbrecht’s conduct in taking two young passengers for a joyride in the location, condition and circumstances of that night was inherently very dangerous,” BC Supreme Court Justice Sheri Donegan said in her decision. “In my opinion, it can properly be characterized as highly reckless conduct which clearly carries with it a reasonably foreseeable risk of immediate and substantial harm.”
Defence lawyers argued the houseboat was not properly lit with navigation lights and so wasn’t easily seen.
Reinbrecht will be sentenced at a later date.
Comments