Man who pled guilty in fatal boat crash off Woodbine Beach won’t serve jail time

The operator of a speed boat who caused a deadly boat crash off Woodbine Beach six years ago will not go to jail.

Superior Court Justice Brees Davies said in handing down her sentence in a downtown courtroom Thursday that while Thamilagan Olivernicholas engaged in risky behavior by driving his boat at a high rate of speed close to a designated swim area and near the rocks, there were strong mitigating factors in the case.

Davies said the 52-year-old is a first-time offender who has taken responsibility for his conduct by pleading guilty and has expressed genuine remorse. She noted that Olivernicholas has acknowledged that he could have avoided the collision if he had been more careful and added that he has been a strong contributing member of society who owned a gas station franchise before the incident which he lost as a result of his arrest.

Davies said that while Olivernicholas has continued to work at the gas station, while out on bail for the past six years, his income is now half. The judge also said he’s been an active volunteer for a walkathon for mental health and has done 170 hours of volunteer work in the last five months alone.

“The collateral consequences of imposing a term of imprisonment will be significant. He and his wife have two children who still live at home with their parents,” Davies added, explaining he is the sole breadwinner. “The offences have already had a significant impact on him. He lost his gas station and half his income. Going to prison would have a significant impact on the family’s financial security.”

“The sentence must send a clear message that dangerous operation of boats on our waterways must not be tolerated,” Davies said, telling court that denunciation and deterrence can be achieved through a Conditional Sentence Order (CSO).

“The principle of restraint must also be considered because he’s a first-time offender,” Davies said, citing from the Supreme Court which points out that a CSO can achieve denunciation when living in the community under strict conditions where others are aware of the criminal conduct, saying the conditions must be sufficiently punitive.

According to the facts, on September 3, 2020 just after 12:30 pm, police were called to the shoreline area of Woodbine Beach and Ashbridges Bay for reports that a boat had collided with the rocks at the west end of Woodbine Beach. The weather was clear and sunny and the water was described as calm.

The facts state the 20-foot yellow Tahoe Q7ssi Extreme had been seen in the minutes before the collision operating at very high speed close to the swim zone and rocks. One witness said that it was going at “full throttle” and driving erratically.

“As it headed towards the rocks along the Woodbine Beach Shoreline, the boat turned south at the last minute towards the centre of the lake. A lifeguard who saw the collision said that the boat then appeared to skip or skid, before crashing on the rocks,” the facts state.

When lifeguards, police, fire and ambulance personnel arrived on scene, they found the seven occupants of the boat, some of whom had been ejected with varying degrees of injuries.

Elaikaigon Palavanamby was found awkwardly positioned in the boat unconscious but breathing. The 47-year-old’s vital signs were lost en route to hospital. Once he arrived at St. Michael’s Hospital, Palavanamby was pronounced dead.

Another passenger was ejected from the boat and suffered a six-inch laceration to his head. Three days later, he attended another hospital for persistent radiating headaches, swelling to his face and leg and pain.

A third passenger suffered a broken arm after landing on the rocks.

Olivernicholas was operating the vessel and was the registered owner. He too was taken to hospital with injuries to his face and jaw.

Three other passengers were assessed at the scene but declined to go to hospital.

While serving his conditional sentence of two years less a day, the judge said Olivernicholas will be subject to strict house arrest for the full length of his sentence except when travelling to work, medical appointments, community service hours, or religious services.

Olivernicholas was also given a ten-year prohibition on operating a boat, 200 hours of community service and was ordered him to give four presentations about the consequences of dangerous operation of a boat and the importance of boat safety.

Following the two-year CSO, he will be required to complete three-years probation including a further 180 hours of community service and three more presentations about the consequences of dangerous operation of a boat, the judge said.

The Crown had asked for a four-year prison sentence and a 10-year boating prohibition.

After the fatal collision, the Palavanamby family told Global News that the husband and father-of three had celebrated his 47th birthday the day before he was killed.

Palavanamby’s son, Jaiison, said his mother told his father “to be careful, be safe and wear a life jacket.”

At the time, the Palavanamby family said they were not angry at the operator of the boat.

“What use is it? That won’t bring my dad back,” said Jaiison.

The judge noted that the victim’s wife, in her victim impact statement, described how difficult it has been to raise three children on her own, given her husband was the sole breadwinner.

Davies said Palavanamby’s wife told court the children, who were eight, 12 and 16 at the time, have also suffered.

“The youngest has become withdrawn, the middle child more rebellious and reckless and the third child anxious and less social,” said Davies.