Waipara Adventure Centre operator charged after boy badly burned on school trip
Photo:
Google Maps
The trust behind a North Canterbury adventure camp where a nine-year-old Hokitika boy was badly burned is facing a criminal charge.
A Christchurch District Court appearance by Sure and Stedfast Development Trust, which ran the Waipara Adventure Centre near Amberley, was adjourned until October on Wednesday morning.
The Hokitika Primary School student was flown to Christchurch Hospital, before being transferred to Middlemore Hospital's burns unit, where he was placed in a medically-induced coma in 2023.
He required dozens of surgeries, only returning to school part-time six months after his injury.
The trust was facing a charge of exposing an individual to a risk of harm or illness, which was believed to involve a small camp stove malfunctioning.
The charge, laid by WorkSafe under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, carried a maximum fine not exceeding $1.5 million dollars.
A Go Fund Me was set up to support the boy and his family raised over $26,000.
WorkSafe inspectorate head Rob Pope said he recognised the bravery of the boy, who had endured multiple surgeries and continued to live with the effects of his burns.
"Businesses and organisations must manage their risks, and when they do not we will hold them to account," he said.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
7 hours ago
- RNZ News
Experienced Taupaki feller Mihajlo Nikolic fatally crushed by tree
By Tracy Neal, Open Justice reporter of Mihajlo Nikolic was an experienced woodsman and well-liked member of the Taupaki community, where he lived on a farm. He was killed in April 2025 while felling a tree. Photo: 123RF An experienced woodsman who was fatally crushed by a falling tree had reportedly cut down about 1000 trees in his lifetime. Contractor Mihajlo Berislav Nikolic, also known as Michael Barry Nikolic, died in April this year, just before his 73rd birthday. He was found pinned beneath a large pine tree on a property in Waitākere, wearing a helmet and earmuffs, with a chainsaw just in front of him. Four days before his body was discovered, he was at home with his partner when he told her he was heading out. She assumed he was taking the dog for a walk on the Taupaki farm between Massey and Kumeū, where he had lived since he was a child, and where the couple had lived for 30 years. At some stage, he also mentioned he was "going bush and he'd be gone for a while", which was not unusual for Nikolic, who would sometimes go camping alone for up to a week, his partner told the coroner examining the death. Nikolic's partner had no idea he was going to cut trees, which was something he did regularly. In findings released today, a letter from Nikolic's stepdaughter, Marée Cross, said that his experience with felling trees was extensive. A long-time friend, who had worked alongside Nikolic, estimated he would have cut down more than 1000 trees in his lifetime, Cross said. He was described as an experienced, proficient and cautious tree feller. Coroner Ian Telford said in the findings that Nikolic was last seen at home on the afternoon of April 5, and his body was found four days later. The police believed that the tree may have broken at the roots because of the soft ground, but in the absence of witnesses, the precise circumstances leading to the accident could not be established, Coroner Telford said, in finding the death was accidental. He said when considering all the evidence, particularly that of the pathologist, it was likely that Nikolic died of traumatic crush injuries to his torso on 5 April. Coroner Telford said WorkSafe considered manual tree felling one of the most dangerous tasks in the forestry industry. "Mike's case serves as a sobering reminder of the inherent risks involved, and the necessity for extreme care and vigilance - regardless of experience," he said. Cross described her stepfather in the letter to the coroner as an outdoorsman in every way, and one who was generous and careful. He was born and raised on the Taupaki farm, and had taken responsibility for it from the age of 13 when his father died, Cross said. "As the oldest son, his mother came to rely on him for sorting out the animals and keeping the land in order." Cross said Nikolic was a long-standing member of the neighbourhood and "extremely well known for always being around to lend a hand to others". She said he was especially welcoming to new neighbours, some of whom had moved to lifestyle blocks in the area with little or no experience in land management. Nikolic was a longtime member of the NZ Deerstalkers Association and Cross said he was also a qualified mechanic who loved Jeeps. As a contractor, he was often out and about on his and others' land, tending to stuck tractors, working with felling and chopping up trees, sorting out broken fencing, and putting in new fencing poles for stock yards and vineyards. "He was a much-loved stepdad to me, and grandpa to our two little ones, and he always enjoyed passing on his practical skills to his city family," Cross wrote. Coroner Telford invited all those engaged in tree-felling work to revisit their practices. He said WorkSafe Best Practice Guidelines on safe manual tree felling were available on the WorkSafe website. * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
Otago Daily Times
8 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
NZ reggae artist deported from US
New Zealand-born reggae artist Lotima Nicholas Pome'e - aka General Fiyah - has been reportedly detained in the US and deported. Photo: Supplied via RNZ New Zealand-born reggae artist Lotima Nicholas Pome'e - aka General Fiyah - has been reportedly detained in the US and deported. The young musician had been scheduled to perform at Polyfest, a major Pacific cultural festival held in Washington on Saturday. In a post on social media, General Fiyah expressed his apologies to fans. "I am really sorry to let you all know that I won't be able to make the performance tonight," the post read. "I was detained and sent back to New Zealand, which means I can't be there to share this moment with you." The musician apologised, saying he would always be supporting from afar. On Sunday, online posts showed him in Sydney. General Fiyah and Polyfest have been contacted for comment. It comes after New Zealand mother Sarah Shaw - detained in an immigration facility in the state of Texas - returned safely back at her home in Washington. Shaw and her six-year-old son Issac were detained at the Canadian border more than three weeks ago because she mistakenly tried to leave and re-enter the United States without both parts of her visa approved.
RNZ News
8 hours ago
- RNZ News
'It's really nasty': Toxic plants destroyed in high school competition
Aroha Chase tackles a roadside infestation in Pakaraka, in the Far North. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf A competition dreamed up by high school students and a dedicated teacher has stopped as many as 10 million seeds of a toxic pest plant spreading into the Northland environment. Kerikeri High School's Northland Moth Plant Competition , which wrapped up last month, encouraged people around the region to collect seed pods from the invasive vine , as well as pulling the plants up by the roots. Each seed pod can release up to 1000 seeds, which travel as far as 25km on the wind. Year 13 student Richard Norton, of the school's Save All Viable Environments (SAVE) group, said the fast-growing vine was a threat to native forest, but also infested shelterbelts, gardens and verges. "The vines grow up trees and smother them, which causes the plants to die, so they endanger our native species." It was hard to say which weed was Northland's worst, but moth plant was certainly a contender for the title. "It's definitely one of the worst because they grow quite quickly, and each pod has 1000 seeds in it. So they reproduce very rapidly, and can take over entire forests and cause a lot of damage," Norton said. A moth plant showing the vine's distinctive seed pods. Photo: Supplied / Hayley Bloch-Jorgensen The climbing vine, which was native to South America but introduced to New Zealand as an ornamental plant, produced small white or pink flowers, and large numbers of choko-like pods. The seeds were carried on the wind by fine, silk-like filaments, much like dandelion seeds. It was also known as kapok vine or, in Australia, as jumbo weed. It favoured frost-free parts of the country. Kerikeri High teacher Kate Crawford, who ran this year's competition, said another distinctive feature was the white sap it produced from even minor contact. "It's really nasty. The sap is quite toxic. It can be a skin irritant and if it gets in your eyes, it can actually cause blindness," she said. "And it grows really fast. I've watched some on the roadside that within one year had completely covered a tree. We had a lady contact us at the start of the competition, she'd removed 500 pods from one tree, and just didn't know what to do with them." The kids of Oromahoe School, in the Far North, with their haul of moth plant pods. Photo: Supplied / Oromahoe School Crawford said the contest had previously targeted schools, but this year it was opened up to the public. Contestants had to provide photographic evidence of the pods and vines, complete with roots, they had collected over a four-month period. They were provided with pre-paid rubbish bags because composting was not enough to kill the seeds. Norton said by the time the competition closed on July 18, the top three teams alone had collected just under 12,500 pods and vines. "It was cool. A lot of people joined and the amount of pods everyone collected was insane. Definitely a lot more than I thought." With more than 10,000 pods collected, each containing up to 1000 seeds, that was a huge dent in the plant's future spread. "That's about 10 million seeds that won't be going out there and growing into other plants anymore. So it's a lot more future moth plants that we don't have to deal with." Norton said the contest had also raised awareness of the problem plant, and he hoped it had encouraged people to continue removing the pods before they ripened. Moth Plant Competition winners Piripi King and Aroha Chase, with daughter Kalliope, 3, adopted the team name Chasing Kings. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf The winning team was Chasing Kings of Pakaraka, on State Highway 1 south of Kerikeri. Members Aroha Chase and Piripi King - and daughter Kalliope, 3 - collected a staggering 5776 pods and vines, earning them $500 cash plus native seedlings for their property. The real prize, however, was the greatly reduced number of pest vines in their area. Chase said she had spent hours every weekend battling moth plant on verges and in hedges around their neighbourhood. "I really dislike this plant, mostly because it's very invasive. It's a clever plant. If you don't fully remove it, it has the ability to regrow from really old roots. It's got a lot of pods per vine and each pod seems to have hundreds and hundreds of seeds." Chase was "very surprised" to win. "It was rather competitive but for us it was more that we were pleased with our efforts, and we were curious to know how others got on, because, after all, it's a good environmental win. We also hoped it might provide Northland Regional Council with data to support other weed control initiatives." Every moth plant pod contains up to 1000 seeds. Photo: Supplied / Hayley Bloch-Jorgensen Crawford said the competition had been sponsored by Kerikeri Rotary and the regional council, while Ngāti Rēhia's Takou Kauri Sanctuary had provided prizes and a local business had upgraded the contest website. She was convinced the contest had made a difference. "I was talking to one of the council's biosecurity officers, and he said he was gathering up pest plants to take to a school, but he was actually having trouble finding moth plants to show kids what it looked like because we'd done such a good job around Kerikeri." Crawford hoped to persuade the regional council to take over the competition next year, but vowed to keep it going if no one else would. Kerikeri also has a STAMP group - short for Society Totally Against Moth Plant - which maps and removes infestations. The group also organises occasional weeding trips to hard-to-reach but severely overgrown locations such as the islands in Kerikeri Inlet. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
