29/05/2007

Man fined over Brit teenager's jet-ski death

A Cypriot man who illegally hired out a jet ski to a British schoolboy, who then crashed it, killing his girlfriend, has been fined £523.

Hannah Sutton, 16, of Alderley Edge in Cheshire, suffered massive head injuries when her boyfriend James Dudley, also 16, from Colwyn Bay in north Wales crashed into her while the pair rode on jet-skis in Pissouri in Cyprus in the summer of 2005.

Aristos Ioannou, 30, was found guilty of allowing James to use the water bike, even though he was under the legal age of 18, at Limassol District Court on Tuesday.

His father, Christakis Ioannou, 46, was cleared of the same offence.

Both had been accused of failing to ask the teenagers for passports. The court heard how only Aristos Ioannou was at the beachside hut when the teenagers came to hire the bikes.

Both men continue to run Chris Watersports on the beach in Pissouri.

Following the accident, James was briefly jailed but was later released when he admitted causing Hannah's death. He was also fined £2,000 by a court.

However, Hannah's family said that they did not hold him responsible for her death, but blamed those who had allowed the teenagers to hire the bikes.

An inquest into Hannah's death recorded a verdict of 'accidental death'. The inquest, held in January, heard of the "woefully inadequate" instructions the youngsters were given on how to ride the bikes.

(KMcA/JM)


Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

03 September 2013
Driver Sentenced Over Fatal Bike Crash
A driver, who admitted that he was eating a sandwich just seconds before hitting a cyclist, has been sentenced to 240 hours of unpaid work and disqualified from driving for a year. Joseph Wilkins, an off-duty firefighter, was cycling on a country road near Abingdon at around 21:00 when 30-year-old Paul Brown's Ford Focus car hit him from behind.
20 January 2005
Foreign Office to issue death certificates for tsunami missing
The Foreign Office has confirmed that it will issue death certificates for British nationals missing, presumed dead, in the Boxing Day tsunami disaster.
11 May 2009
Woman Arrested Over Hit-And-Run Death
A 27-year-old woman is being questioned by police following the hit-and-run death of a boy in Bristol. Sam Riddall, 11, died after being struck by a Ford Focus which mounted the pavement and ploughed into him as he walked home from a church youth service.
26 March 2014
People Donate £66,000 After Cyclist's Death On Charity Bike Ride
Family and friends of Christian Smith, the cyclist killed while on a charity bike ride, have thanked everyone who has donated money to his JustGiving webpage. Currently, over £66,000 has been donated. Mr Smith was hoping to raise £1,000 for mental health charity Mind. He was taking part in a bike ride around Kent and Sussex last Saturday.
10 August 2005
Schoolboy fined over jet-ski death
A schoolboy who killed his girlfriend in a jet-ski accident in Cyprus has received a fine. James Dudley, 16, from Colwyn Bay, north Wales, was fined just over £2,000 after admitting causing the death of Hannah Sutton, also 16, in the tragic accident.