‘No justice’ for quake victim, friends say
Family and friends of a tattooist killed by falling masonry while fleeing an unsafe building during the Christchurch earthquake want the property manager to ‘‘just say sorry’’.
Matthew McEachen, 25, worked at Colombo St’s Southern Ink tattoo parlour and was crushed as he tried to escape the studio when it collapsed on February 22, 2011.
United States tourist Rachel Conley, 27, was killed by rubble as she left the parlour, having gone there to discuss a tattoo design with McEachen.
Seven years on, McEachen’s friends say they want answers from Harcourts commercial property manager Christopher Chapman.
Chapman was charged with misconduct by the Real Estate Agents Authority (REAA) in 2015 for failing to tell the tenant an engineer had found the building ‘‘structurally unsafe to occupy’’ after the September 2010 earthquake, despite Southern Ink owner Matt Parkin raising repeated concerns.
A decision released in March found Chapman’s conduct was substandard, but not ‘‘disgraceful’’.
About 20 protesters gathered outside Moorhouse Ave’s Harcourts yesterday to ask the real estate giant to initiate an internal investigation.
McEachen’s best friend Ben Atkinson said Harcourts owed it to the killed pair.
‘‘You would think any company with their heads screwed on would actually look into that instead of just ignoring it.’’
McEachen’s father, Bruce, was at the protest.
He earlier said it was ‘‘absolutely gut-wrenching’’ Chapman escaped censure. He desperately wanted those responsible for his son’s death to be ‘‘held accountable for their actions’’.
Atkinson said Harcourts failed to reply to his emails and security guards stationed around the building refused to communicate with him.
Passing cars tooted in support of the group, holding placards reading ‘‘Boycott Harcourts’’ and ‘‘Chapman is Guilty’’.
‘‘I’ll be here a lot more often if they want to just keep ignoring it … I’m willing to take a day off here or there for them to waste money on security.’’
He acknowledged it was ‘‘hard to tell’’ if they would ever get a response, but hoped if they could ‘‘make enough noise’’ it might spark action.
‘‘If he just took accountability and showed some remorse I don’t think this would be such a problem anymore.’’
‘‘If anybody in that company has any . . . humanity, they will do something to make any of this easier for the families and friends of those who passed away,’’ friend Stuart Henley-Minchington said.
A Harcourts spokeswoman said the company was unable to make comment as the matter is still subject to a potential High Court appeal.
‘‘Harcourts has deep sympathy for the families and we respect the right to peacefully protest,’’ she said.