The owner of an ex-military landing craft has been fined £5,000 by magistrates in Truro after pleading guilty to allowing an unqualified crew to go to sea.

Darren Larkham of Westbury-on-Severn, the owner and operator of the landing craft Arromanches, pleaded guilty on October 21 to an offence under the Merchant Shipping Act.

On June 11, 2014, the Arromanches was boarded at Newlyn by Maritime and Coastguard Agency surveyors, who found that the crew of four was not qualified to operate the vessel. Larkham, who is also the vessel operator and was on the vessel at the time, was instructed not to go to sea without a qualified crew.

On June 16 at 2am the Arromanches was observed leaving Newlyn harbour with a load bound for the Isles of Scilly, and the following day it was discovered that Larkham had employed unqualified crew on its passage.

Larkham was interviewed by MCA officers and he admitted that he and his crew were not qualified to undertake the passage.

In passing sentence, the chairman of the bench said: "We put this into the category of being deliberate. The fact is you were warned on June 11 not to go out and five days later you went across to the Isles of Scilly. We find you compliant. We give you credit for your early guilty plea. We also took into account your previous 14 years good record."

Larkham was fined £5,000 with £800 costs and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £120.

Chris Uglow, MCA principal surveyor at Falmouth Marine Office, said: "Mr Larkham showed complete disregard for his and his crew’s safety.

"The Arromanches is a large landing craft and in order to operate, it requires crew with specific qualifications. We must ensure properly qualified persons operate in the marine environment."