Police consider criminal liability over earthquake deaths
MARTIN VAN BEYNEN AND BLAIR ENSOR
December 4 2015
A Christchurch property manager is under investigation after claims he failed to inform a commercial building's tenants the property had been deemed unsafe by engineers before the February 2011 quake.
Criminal charges could flow from a major investigation of 25 sites where people died during the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
Police have confirmed the probe into the deadly Canterbury Television (CTV) building collapse was widened to include another 24 sites across the city.
Property managers, landlords, engineers and construction companies appear to have come under scrutiny.
The February 22, 2011 earthquake killed 185 people. Of those, 115 died in the CTV building, 25 in the Pyne Gould Corporation (PGC) building and 46 died from unreinforced masonry collapses.
Detective Superintendent Peter Read said police had in the course of investigating the CTV site broadened the investigation to include 24 other buildings where people were killed.
The 24 sites had been "whittled down" and police were looking at a smaller number, which he could not disclose.
"We are looking at the criminal liability question in relation to each of them."
No charges had yet been laid.
"It's a similar process to the CTV one in that it's rather laborious and has got to be pretty detailed. We are expecting a decision in the new year."
The investigation into the 24 sites had run alongside the CTV investigation and was done by the same team.
"The CTV one started first and then it was a natural consequence the other ones would be looked at. But they are completely separate investigations."
Ann Brower, the sole survivor of a bus crushed by a collapsed building in Colombo St during the February 2011 earthquake, welcomed further investigation into all collapses that resulted in deaths.
The failed parapets on the Colombo St block were found to be dangerous and in need of demolition before the February quake. Sixteen people died.
Their lives were no less important than those lost in CTV, Brower said.
The Colombo St collapse was "not an accident", she said.
"It wasn't an act of god, it was an act of man."
PROPERTY MANAGER UNDER SCRUTINY
A Christchurch property manager, who has interim name suppression, is one of the people under scrutiny after claims he failed to inform a commercial building's tenants the property had been deemed unsafe by engineers. One man died after being crushed by falling masonry outside the building.
The father of the man who died told Stuff he believed his son would still be alive if he had been aware the building was unsafe.
"We're obviously very happy that the police are showing a degree of interest in any of the sites where people have lost their lives," he said.
"I guess those that are responsible should be held responsible. Perhaps it's a learning experience for people involved in business."
Documents obtained by Stuff show the Real Estate Agents Authority (REAA) charged the property manager with misconduct earlier this year. It says he failed to tell the building's tenants it was unsafe to occupy despite their raising repeated concerns about its structural integrity and their personal safety.
FORMAL HEARING
The licensed real estate agent agent appealed the authority's decision to lay a charge against him, but a finding issued this week by the Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal found a case to answer and the matter is now scheduled for a formal hearing.
The agent's lawyer, Philip Rzepecky, said his client had been unfairly singled out.
"He worked diligently to have the building inspected by qualified engineers, and to advise the owners of the repair work recommended by those engineers. There were many others involved, all working in the midst of a huge natural disaster."
Rzepecky said the agent was never paid for helping the owners, who decided not to carry out the repairs a month before the February quake despite knowing about the engineers' recommendations and that their tenants were still working in the building.
He said there was no evidence that the agent conducted himself dishonestly.
"There remains significant doubt on the evidence that [the agent] was ever in a position to know about the actual level of danger."
The agent has appealed the decision to the High Court.
POLICE MAKING GOOD PROGRESS
Errol Hadfield, the father-in-law of Natasha Hadfield, who died in the Wicks Fish Supply building at 389 Worcester St, confirmed police were investigating the events around Natasha's death and appeared to be making good progress.
"They are being very thorough and we are pleased something is being done," he said.
Natasha was killed when the wall of the next-door building collapsed on to the roof of the Wicks building on February 22, 2011.
Hadfield began his own investigation after Natasha's death uncovering documents which showed the next door building was regarded as dangerous.
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