KEY POINTS:
White House strip club owner Brian Le Gros will pay $1500 to the swimmer he hit with his jetski off St Heliers, breaking the man's shoulder blade and three of his ribs.
Le Gros pleaded guilty in Auckland District Court yesterday in a case officials said should send
a warning to others.
He was ordered to pay $5250, including a $2500 fine and $1500 to victim Mark Hoogwerf.
Maritime NZ pursued the case, supported by the Auckland Regional Council.
It said Le Gros was riding his jetski at full throttle within the 200m low-speed zone at St Heliers in January last year.
Court documents described Le Gros before the crash turning to look back towards a friend who was following him on another jetski.
The woman passenger on Le Gros' jetski alerted him to a man in the water.
Le Gros turned back around and saw Mr Hoogwerf just before the 330kg Yamaha jetski hit the swimmer. Mr Hoogwerf was in hospital for two days.
The doctor who treated him said the injuries were similar to those "inflicted on someone with a baseball bat", according to court documents.
Le Gros told the Herald after he appeared in court that he still maintained he was outside the low-speed zone but he admitted a charge of operating the jetski in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk to other persons. Three other charges were dropped.
"Like driving up Queen St, if you go up the bum of a car you're in the wrong, aren't you?" he said.
"If you hit a swimmer out in the mid-Atlantic on a jetski you're still in the wrong.
"That's it."
Le Gros said he was sorry about the crash and he was relieved the case was over.
"I sympathise for the guy that got hit. I'm not normally a clown on the jetski."
Harbourmaster John Lee-Richards said the penalty should send a warning to others that the court took the incident seriously.
"He was going too fast and he was inside the buoys and he obviously wasn't keeping a good lookout," said Mr Lee-Richards.
"It's not good enough."
He said it was lucky Mr Hoogwerf wasn't killed.
"Look at the damage that was done to him. If he had been hit in the right place on the body, he would have been badly hurt."
The ARC's environmental management chairwoman, Dianne Glenn, said it was important for people to report speeding or dangerous jetskiers - in the same way they would report speeding or dangerous motorists on the road.
