The skipper of a speedboat involved in a crash in which a 15-year-old girl was killed has denied manslaughter in court. It is alleged that Michael Lawrence was driving the boat at the time of the incident in August 2020, in which Emily Lewis sustained fatal injuries when the vessel collided with a five-tonne navigation buoy. Emily was onboard the boat, Seadogz, with her mother, Nikki, her father Simon, her sister Amy, 19, and seven other passengers. Appearing at Southampton magistrates court, Lawrence, 54, pleaded not guilty to gross negligence manslaughter. Michael Howley, the owner of Seadogz Rib Charter Ltd, which ran the trip on Southampton Water, was charged with “failing to take all reasonable steps to secure the boat operated in a safe manner”. Howley, 51, from Hordle in Hampshire, faces an alternative charge of failing to take reasonable steps as director of the company. He gave no pleas but indicated he would be pleading not guilty to all charges. The district judge Anthony Callaway sent the case for trial at Winchester crown court and released the two defendants on unconditional bail until a hearing on 2 March. Emily’s family previously said in a statement released through Hampshire constabulary: “We are all in shock that our beautiful daughter and sister is no longer with us, and words just don’t seem available to express our deep sense of loss.” Stuart Parkes, the headteacher at Brookfield community school, where Emily was a student, described her as “kind, compassionate” and a “bright, conscientious student”.