新西蘭英語 95 Guilty plea from Outdoor Education Centre
On April 15th 2008, New Zealand experienced a terrible tragedy: 6 teenagers and a teacher died while on an outdoor education activity in the centre of the North Island. (See April 17th 2008 on this website.) They were canyoning in the Mangatepopo Gorge near Turangi when a sudden flash flood swept them away down the river. The guide did her best to save the students but only 4 survived.
The Department of Labour charged the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre with not providing safety and care. Today in court, the Centre pleaded guilty to two charges of not providing safety and care. The chairman and the CEO of the Centre spoke to the media and it was plain to see they were both very upset about the tragedy. This guilty plea means that there will be no court case. The chairman said that a full court case would probably not happen for two years and would cost a great deal of money. The school, the parents and the Outdoor Pursuits Centre have suffered a lot of grief already. A court case in two years time would be hard on everyone concerned. This plea also means that a Coroner’s Court can be held, to find out exactly what caused the deaths.
The Centre will be sentenced by the court later in the year. They will probably have to pay a huge fine. The Centre is still operating. They have now registered to receive weather warnings by email so that in future they will know immediately when bad weather is expected.
The Outdoor Pursuits Centre will give full details of what went wrong that day, when they are sentenced.
