A FOUL-MOUTHED boaters dashed through the Thames Summer Regatta causing mayhem on the river.
He drove at speed in and out of the event, narrowly avoided a collision with a group of rowers, Keith Gudgin reports.
Powerful cruiser
Scott Keen, on a powerful cruiser, steered his boat into a closed-off section of the Thames where a summer regatta was being held, yelling "You don’t own the f****** water."
Even though there were clear warnings, Keen powered his unregistered boat, Barney McGrew, across the racing line, forcing the owner of one boat into a frantic manoeuvre to avoid a potentially catastrophic collision.
He ignored all the requests to turn back, with at one time his cruiser caught in the anchor rope of a race stake boat, before he then stopped and launched a foul-mouthed tirade at rowers.
His dangerous escapade swamped rowers and narrowly avoided collisions.
Staines Magistrates Court
It came to an head in Staines Magistrates’ Court that heard that Keen steered his boat into a section of the Thames closed off for the Kingston Amateur Regatta, an event established in 1852, with Maria Herlihy, operations manager at the Environment Agency and harbour master of the Thames, explaining:
"This incident was a disgrace. Keen showed no regard for the safety of other river users and could easily have caused a tragedy.
"Quite frankly, it was no surprise to discover that his boat was unregistered, and we are happy with the court result. We hope that this serves as a clear warning to all—anti-social and dangerous behaviour on our rivers will not be tolerated."
Keen was found guilty of obstructing a boat race and interfering with the safety of persons gathered, failing to comply with a harbour master’s notice and failing to register his boat for use on the Thames and also found to have navigated his boat dangerously and used abusive language at other river users.
His expensive event
He failed to attend court, but was fined the maximum penalty of £1,000 in his absence, plus fines and costs of £4,335 over the episode of river rage at Kingston-upon-Thames last July.
An Environmental Agency crackdown on unregistered vessels in the Thames last year resulted in 40 boaters having to pay a combined total of over £55,000 for their offences. Pictures by Environment Agency.