Student’s hostel death verified by coroner
CHRISTCHURCH: The body of a University of Canterbury student lay unnoticed in campus accommodation for 2 to 4 weeks, a coroner has ruled.
Mason Drake Pendrous, a 19yearold commerce student, died between August 26 and September 10, coroner Sue Johnson found after a special hearing in Christchurch yesterday to verify when he died.
No cause of death has yet been established and investigations are ongoing.
Pendrous, born in England, was found dead by a staff member in his room, number 209 in the Hinoki building of the University of Canterbury’s Sonoda Campus in Ilam, Christchurch, about 10.50pm on September 23.
Investigations by the University of Canterbury and the accommodation provider, Campus Living Villages (CLV), are under way.
His stepfather, Anthony Holland, who last spoke to Pendrous on July 19, has expressed concerns over how long it took to notice something was wrong.
Yesterday, Constable Robert Stokes, an inquest officer for New Zealand Police, revealed the police work done so far to try to establish when he died.
Photo records have Pendrous last seen entering his accommodation block, and using his university swipe card, on the evening of August 12.
He was not seen coming or going for a fortnight.
The last time he was known to have spoken to anybody was on August 24 when he played an online war game with an old schoolmate in Wellington when they chatted over headphones.
From July 1 to the last time anyone saw Pendrous alive, police say his computer use had ‘‘increased substantially’’.
His high level of computer use remained consistent until 5.36pm on August 26 when the last clear record of user activity on his computer is documented.
The university’s IT department established that Pendrous’ laptop may have automatically logged on to the UC’s Learn network after a software update at 5.41pm on the same day.
The last recorded text message was sent to his stepfather on June 12, police found, while the last known verbal phone contact was also to Mr Holland, on July 19.
His last bank transaction was recorded to be at a nearby supermarket ATM on June 21.
His cellphone remained logged on to the uni’s wireless service until it ran out of battery on July 23 and it was disconnected by his network provider on August 23 due to overdue payments.
A postmortem carried out by a forensic pathologist on the day after Pendrous’ body was found concluded that he had been dead at least 2 to 4 weeks.
Yesterday, after hearing the police evidence, the coroner agreed.
She ruled that Pendrous died between August 26 and September 10, 2019. The evidence, as it currently stands, suggests he died in his room.
No family members were present at the hearing but a 3pm embargo allowed them to be informed of the outcome before media could report the findings.
While Ms Johnson said she must focus on where he died, and the cause and circumstances of his death, it was important to remember that at the centre of it all was a wellloved young man just starting his adult life.
‘‘His death was a tragedy and that mustn’t be forgotten as we try to find some answers,’’ she said, and vowed that the young student would not become invisible during the coronial process. — The New Zealand Herald