THE man convicted of the manslaughter of a tax worker who drowned in the River Severn at Stourport has avoided imprisonment because of "exceptional" circumstances.

Tom Prescot, who recently took out a £14,000 bank loan to cover debts and lives on his yacht moored at Stourport Marina, was given a one-year prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, for the death of Jane Turner.

She drowned when the boat, which was being helmed by Prescot, sank because it was overloaded.

At Birmingham Crown Court last Friday, Mr Justice Calvert-Smith said he was satisfied there were exceptional circumstances that could not have been foreseen.

"The boat was not designed well, to say the least," he said. "You were unaware of this design defect and I find it was not reasonable to expect you to know of this."

On Saturday, September 6, 2003, Prescot's co-defendants, Janice Ward and Ruth Pearson, had organised a boat-warming party.

Later that day, the 23ft cruiser - Sweetie Pie - which had 16 people on board, capsized, throwing revellers into the river.

As partygoers tried to clamber back on board from the stern, the boat took on water and sank. Ms Turner, from Castle Bromwich, Solihull, died after becoming trapped in the cabin.

Christopher Millington QC, defending, said the expert who examined the boat had said it had an "extraordinary" defect.

"The boat was not watertight at the stern and the expert gave evidence that had this boat been equipped with a water tight stern, the probability is that all those people who got back on the boat would have done so safely," he said.

Prescot was ordered to pay £500 towards the prosecution's costs and fined another £500.

Pearson, from Kidderminster, was cleared of manslaughter but the jury failed to reach a verdict on Ward, of Stourport. She will not face a retrial.