Karnin Petera died after being swept away while on a school trip to Abbey Caves in May 2023.
Photo: RNZ / Tom Taylor
Sentencing is due to get under way in the Whangārei District Court on Friday morning in relation to a caving tragedy that claimed the life of a 15-year-old boy.
Karnin Petera was on a Whangārei Boys’ High School outdoor education trip in May 2023 when heavy rain triggered flooding in Abbey Caves.
Fourteen other boys and two adults managed to get out, but Karnin was swept away.
WorkSafe subsequently charged the school board with two counts of exposing people to the risk of harm or death. The board pleaded guilty in July.
A full day has been set aside for the Monday sentencing with a number of people, including Karnin’s parents, intending to read victim impact statements.
Born in Whangārei, Karnin attended Hora Hora Primary and Whangārei Intermediate School before starting at Whangārei Boys’ High School.
Nicknamed Tino because of his enthusiastic approach to life, he was fluent in te reo and loved basketball, working out at the gym, playing pool, board games and hanging out with friends, as well as water sports such as surfing, body boarding and diving.
His body was recovered by a search and rescue team more than 10 hours after he was swept away.
He was farewelled at Paa Te Oro Marae, near Kohukohu, and buried next to his grandmother.
The school had earlier carried out a risk assessment for the trip that stated Abbey Caves were “prone to flooding” in heavy rain.
The assessment recommended postponing the trip if water levels were too high.
However, the trip went ahead, despite Northland being under a MetService orange heavy rain warning at the time. A severe thunderstorm warning had also been issued for parts of Whangārei.
The caves, which are 5km northwest of Whangārei’s city centre, have been closed to the public ever since.
When the charges were first laid, Whangārei Boys’ High principal Karen Smith sent a letter to parents saying: “Our thoughts remain with the whānau of Karnin Petera, his friends, our school whānau, the wider Whangārei community and everyone who has been touched by this tragedy.”
Smith said the school had worked closely with WorkSafe throughout the investigation, and had developed and implemented new outdoor education policies following the tragedy.
