Boat owners plead guilty to student’s drowning

A FATHER and son who ran a pleasure cruise in the US on which an Irish student drowned failed to call the coastguard for almost an hour after she fell overboard.

Joseph Jay Shore, aged 65, and Cord Mitchell Shore, aged 39, of Hyannis, Massachusetts, also had more passengers on board than they were legally licensed to carry and did not have enough life jackets.

The pair’s 11th-hour decision to switch to a guilty plea in the 2001 manslaughter of Catherine Kinsella, aged 20, from Baltinglass, Co Wicklow, was confirmed by the US Attorney’s Office yesterday.

Both men had denied the charge and were due to stand trial in Boston next Monday. They will be sentenced on September 9 when they are likely to receive less than the 10 years in prison and $250,000 fines they faced if convicted after a contested trial.

US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Michael Sullivan, described the night of July 22, 2001, when Ms Kinsella died in the waters of Cape Cod, where she was working during a summer holiday.

“That night, the Shores set sail on the Sea Genie II after purchasing and providing beer, wine and liquor for largely under-age passengers. The number of passengers exceeded the vessel’s licensed capacity with fewer than adequate life preservers.

“Cord Shore failed to monitor the radar safely and was not aware as the boat drifted into a moored sailboat, causing the boat’s starboard railing to break. Shortly thereafter, Ms Kinsella fell overboard through the broken railing.

“The Shores undertook a search, but did not notify the US Coast Guard for nearly 50 minutes, as the Sea Genie II ran in circles in the 58-degree (14ºC) water, said Mr Sullivan.

“The US Coast Guard and Barnstable Police Department located Ms Kinsella, but she was not breathing, had no pulse and was never able to be resuscitated.”

Mr Sullivan extended his condolences to Ms Kinsella’s family, in what he called a “tragic case”.