NAN-F-25
Accident
Sydney (Australia), March 23, 2017 (dpa/NAN) A Thai court on Thursday handed one-year prison sentence to an Australian for killing his girlfriend accidentally in a jet-ski crash in February, a court official said.
Thomas Keating, 22, was found guilty of reckless driving that caused the death of
his girlfriend on Feb. 6 in the resort city of Phuket.
Keating’s sentence was suspended for two years and he was fined 145 dollars after he pleaded guilty to the criminal charge.
He would be allowed to leave Thailand once the legal paperwork was finalised in about one week’s time, the court official said.
Emily Jayne Collie, 20, was killed when her jet-ski collided with Keating’s.
The police said they rented the watercraft from a local operator in Phuket.
Keating told the police that he could not see his partner in the water due to strong sunlight reflecting from the sea.
Soon after the incident, Keating wrote a heartfelt tribute to his deceased partner on his Facebook page, saying “I love you so much Emily; I wish I could just bring you back into my arms.
“I’m so broken and I know I’ll never, ever be able to mend.” (dpa/NAN)
OYE/HA
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu