A Teignmouth skipper whose trawler Girl Rona made the headlines in January after capsizing off the port has been fined more than £7,000 for dredging in a conservation zone.

Peter Boyne, of Higher Yannon Drive, pleaded guilty to the offence, which took place on May 7 last year in the Lyme Bay Designated Area, when he appeared before magistrates in Torquay on Friday.

The Marine Management Organisation has confirmed it is the first prosecution for illegal fishing on the reef, which was made a haven for internationally rare corals and sponges in 2009. Mitigating, David Hassall said his 61-year-old client had never been convicted of a fisheries offence and that he had been working close to the protected area when his boat had suffered a hydraulics failure with the gear down.