Captain of ship that struck Marchioness pleasure boat killing 51 hit with fresh allegation
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The captain of the dredger that hit the Marchioness in 1989, sinking it and killing 51 people, has been fined for refusing to do a breathalyser test while on duty on a ship. Douglas Henderson was arrested on a cargo vessel in Hull on July 21 last year. It is believed police boarded the MV Velox after being alerted by a customs officer who suspected during a routine check that he may have been drinking.
He was later found guilty of failing to provide a specimen at a police station and fined £281 on September 11 at Hull magistrates court. Henderson was acquitted over the Marchioness tragedy, on charges of failing to keep a proper lookout, after juries twice failed to reach a verdict.
The Bowbelle skipper had drunk six pints of lager three hours before the crash in Central London but insisted the alcohol had not affected his judgment. Party boat Marchioness sank before 2am on August 20, 1989, with 132 people on board, after colliding with the Bowbelle on the River Thames.
Henderson, who admitted that rescuing drowning passengers had not been his top priority, was criticised in the Marchioness public inquiry report. Judy Wellington, 74, of Greenford, Middlesex, lost her son Simon Senior, 20, a model and musician. Told of Henderson’s court case, she said: “I am horrified, disgusted. I am so hurt and upset by this. I lost my first son. He was just starting out on life. It was snatched from him.”.
When the Mirror approached Henderson, of New Marske, Redcar, North Yorkshire, at his home and suggested he may have refused the test because he was over the legal limit for alcohol on the MV Velox, he said: “You’ve got your facts wrong for a start.”.
