Dad devastated no charge over deaths
A father says it is ‘‘absolutely gutwrenching’’ that a property manager has escaped censure over a building collapse during the Christchurch earthquake that killed two people.
Apprentice tattooist Matti McEachen and his customer Rachel Conley died when the building housing the Southern Ink tattoo parlour collapsed during the shaking on February 22, 2011.
Matti’s father, Bruce McEachen, had brought a complaint against Harcourts real estate agent Chris Chapman, who was aware of safety issues before the collapse, but did nothing to get concerned tenants out of the building.
A decision by the Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal, released yesterday, found Chapman’s conduct was substandard but not ‘‘disgraceful’’.
‘‘Mr Chapman’s conduct . . . did not meet the relevant industry standards, by a considerable measure. However, we are not able to conclude that his failure to meet those standards was to such an extent that we could find that it would reasonably be considered ... as disgraceful.’’
McEachen learned of the decision on Monday night.
‘‘It’s absolutely gut-wrenching,’’ he said. ‘‘The family’s quite distraught over the whole thing.
‘‘For the tribunal to come out and say that’s not enough for disgraceful conduct?
‘‘If that’s not disgraceful I don’t know what is.’’
The tribunal heard that an engineer’s inspection of the building after the September 2010 earthquake deemed it ‘‘structurally unsafe to occupy’’. Chapman relayed this information to the building’s owners but not to its tenant, Southern Ink owner Matt Parkin, who had repeatedly aired his concerns about the building’s safety to Chapman.
‘‘Despite Mr Parkin’s express questions, and the information he had from [the engineer’s report], Mr Chapman did not tell Mr Parkin anything other than that the building was being checked by engineers, that the engineers were working on what repairs were required, and that it would be up to the owners to decide what they were going to do,’’ the decision said.
For some time after the September earthquake the building had had both green and yellow placards placed at different entrances on its Colombo St and St Asaph St frontages, denoting different hazard levels.
Chapman told the tribunal because the yellow placard was on the St Asaph St side, he assumed only that frontage was damaged and unsafe to occupy. Southern Ink operated from the Colombo St entrance.
‘‘We note [Chapman’s lawyer’s] submission that [engineering firm] HCG did not tell Mr Chapman that the building was not safe for Southern Ink to occupy, but that does not absolve him from not making that enquiry himself,’’ the decision said.
‘‘We are satisfied that he had sufficient information to recognise the need for enquiry concerning the safety of the building (and the Colombo St frontage in particular) and the expressions of concern from Mr Parkin should have rung alarm bells for him that he needed to clarify the matter.’’
McEachen said the family are considering whether to appeal the decision. ‘‘We want to have a bit of time to sit down and digest what’s happened and decide do we have the emotional strength to continue on.
‘‘It’s taken us seven years to get this guy to a High Court.
‘‘How much longer do we have to do through this process?
‘‘I guess that’s where we feel somewhat aggrieved that the legal process has let us down quite badly.’’
A decision by police last year not to pursue criminal charges over the collapse has been just as hard to take, he said.
‘‘It does leave you questioning whether or not the laws in New Zealand are adequate for the environment in which we live.’’