‘Unlawful’ to clear Whittall
The Supreme Court says a deal not to pursue a prosecution against Pike River boss Peter Whittall was unlawful.
Two families of miners killed in the Pike River mine disaster asked the Supreme Court to overturn a Court of Appeal ruling that upheld a WorkSafe NZ decision to drop charges against Whittall.
Families were paid $3.4 million in the deal.
Sonya Rockhouse, who lost 21-year-old son Ben in the 2010 disaster, and Anna Osborne, who lost husband Milton, ultimately want a judicial review of the WorkSafe decision.
The Supreme Court yesterday said Worksafe dropping the charges against Whittall was ‘‘an unlawful agreement to stifle prosecution’’ struck in return for the $3.41m payment.
Rockhouse called the Supreme Court decision a ‘‘moral victory’’.
Rockhouse hoped ‘‘chequebook justice’’ would never happen again. ‘‘If you’ve got money in this county you can get out of the charges ... this is going to set a precedent and show you can’t.’’
Osborne called it ‘‘a huge victory’’.
‘‘It’s a long time coming, and it feels so bloody great.
‘‘We were gobsmacked that justice could be bought in New Zealand for the charges to be dropped against somebody.
‘‘I’ve always called it blood money, you should never be able to buy your way out of charges.’’
Osborne said she was ‘‘incredibly proud’’ of their legal team – Nigel Hampton QC and Simon Meikle – who worked pro bono on the case.
The Supreme Court decision does not mean Whittall will be charged.
Osborne accepted an order to require the prosecution to proceed was no longer an option due to the passage of time, the Supreme Court said.
Twenty-nine men died when the West Coast coal mine exploded on November 19, 2010.
Whittall initially faced 12 health and safety charges.
All were dropped in December 2013 even though WorkSafe believed it had enough evidence to prosecute.
It said the charges were dropped because of public interest considerations.
Pike River Coal Ltd, the mine owner, pleaded guilty to nine charges and was fined $760,000 although no money was paid.
Whittall offered to make a voluntary payment of $3.41m from his insurer if WorkSafe did not proceed against him.
The district court ordered the reparation and the families and two survivors received payments.
The Supreme Court said it was irrelevant Work Safe took account of other factors in deciding not to prosecute.
Work Safe chief legal adviser Michael Hargreaves said the agency accepted the decision.
This week Cabinet approved the establishment of the Pike River Recovery Agency to investigate what happened in the 2010 disaster and look into the possibility of manned re-entry of the mine’s drift.
The agency will take over Pike River assets from Solid Energy by mid-March 2018.
The agency will maintain mine infrastructure, manage ongoing mine safety and mine safety while work on re-entry is undertaken.