Fit and talented builder died when he crashed his jet ski in darkness

A coroner has urged jet ski riders not to get in the water when affected by alcohol, following the death of a talented Tasmanian builder who crashed in the darkness.

Timothy Michael Lawrence fatally crashed his jet ski. Picture: FACEBOOK

MARION BAY was in total darkness on a night with no moonlight when talented builder Timothy Michael Lawrence fatally crashed his jet ski.

The 31-year-old struck a navigation beacon, bringing a fun birthday weekend with friends to a tragic end.

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In his findings released on Friday, Coroner Simon Cooper said the October 2017 accident occurred after friends spent the night drinking by a campfire at Little Chinamans Bay.

Mr Lawrence – athletic, fit and experienced in the water – had a beer in one hand as he ferried a friend back to Marion Spit.

But he didn’t make it back to the campfire as planned, to ferry a second friend.

“I heard the [jet ski] going flat out for about 30 seconds and then it stopped,” his friend at the spit later said.

“It was like it hit something and stopped, but there wasn’t any loud bang or splashing, but I knew something really bad had just happened.”

The man swam out to find Mr Lawrence, but a current forced him back to the beach.

Raising the alarm, the man and some of the others searched the waterways in a dinghy – finding the damaged water ski but no sign of their “happy and positive” friend.

Police officers from Dunalley and Nubeena arrived, calling on support from Marine and Rescue Services.

A second dinghy containing Mr Lawrence’s partner entered the water, finding him facedown in the water about 50m from the shore.

Two of the friends started CPR – keeping it up for an hour until a police rescue helicopter arrived just after 2am.

An intensive care paramedic on-board confirmed Mr Lawrence had died, transporting his body back to Hobart.

Mr Cooper said Mr Lawrence had died almost instantly after crashing at considerable speed with a severe head injury and major damage to his chest and legs.

He said a high blood alcohol reading of 0.163 and a lack of ambient light that night contributed to the crash, urging others not to ride jet skis while affected by alcohol.