The brother of a man who was lost at sea said his family will never get over the tragedy and want to see the skipper responsible for his death stopped.

Stephen Trice , 56, of Otterham Creek, Rainham, was trying to reconnect a motor cruiser to a tug boat when he fell overboard near Beachy Head in February 2013. His body was recovered 11 weeks later.

His brother Fred Trice has spoken publicly for the first time, as the captain of the tug boat was sentenced to eight months in prison.

Skipper and owner Martin Richley, also from Medway, was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court.

The 39-year-old pleaded guilty to serious offences under the Merchant Shipping Act. He has been given 28 days to appeal his sentence.

Fred, 64, from Rochester, said: “My father has not recovered. He is 84 and I don’t think he or my mother will ever get over it.

“We as a family just hope the law takes its course. We don’t want revenge, we just want this man stopped.”

Stephen, known as Steve to his family and friends, had worked on boats all his life.

He and Richley had left the River Medway for Brighton on February 3 on the tug, Endurance, towing a 60ft motor cruiser, Sirus M.

When the line was lost in stormy weather off the coast of Eastbourne the following day, Steve tried to transfer between the two vessels in darkness and fell overboard.

His long-term girlfriend Suzanne had been tracking the boat online and knew something was wrong when two lifeboats were dispatched.

Fred remembers getting an early morning phone call and knowing immediately something terrible had happened.

"Once we knew he had gone over the side we were pretty certain that was the end for Steve” - brother, Fred Trice

He said: “I got a call from my father at about 6am, you don’t get phone calls at that time unless it is bad news. It was about three or four hours after it had happened.

“It was a shock for the whole family but especially for my father and mother, they were very close to Stephen and still saw him a few times every week.

“My father and I have been working on the water for so many years, once we knew he had gone over the side we were pretty certain that was the end for Steve.”

An inquiry by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch found Richley was not trained or qualified in towing operations and did not follow good practice.

The report said: “Stephen’s attempt to transfer from Endurance to Sirius M when both vessels were underway in rough seas and in darkness was extraordinarily dangerous.

"It was a desperate and ill-considered measure brought about by the use of poor towing practices, a disregard of the weather forecasts, and a lack of planning, risk assessment and emergency preparedness.”

Steve’s friends of 35 years, Jane and Gary Etheridge, believe the law is inadequate.

Mrs Etheridge, of Watling Street, Strood said: “How Steve died was horrific and the safety reports make chilling reading. If anything positive can come out of this it should be a total review of the Ports and their working.

“The Ports Authorities are there to control the river and the law is inadequate.

"All they could legally do was warn the captain of the vessel that the weather conditions were poor and the dangers of the size of vessels towing and being towed.

“No one wants over bureaucracy but we must have confidence in our agencies and their powers to protect life.”

The marine report found Richley had been involved in two other incidents weeks before Steve’s death.

In November 2012, Endurance was pushing a barge carrying a digger and a skip on the River Medway.

As the barge rolled heavily in the tidal race, the digger and skip slid off the barge into the river.

The following month, Endurance was pushing a steel pontoon and the skipper was forced to beach it on the riverbank after it started taking on water.

Neither incidents were reported to the Marine Accident Investigation Branch and Richley did not submit an incident report form to the port authority.

Read more in today's Medway Messenger.