Manslaughter Charges For Three People Related To The Loafers Lodge Fatal Fire
Today, Police have charged three people with manslaughter in relation to the fatal fire at Loafers Lodge on 16 May 2023.
Two men aged 75 and 58, and a 70-year-old woman will appear in the Wellington District Court later today, each facing charges of manslaughter.
Police have spoken to a third man and expect to also charge him with manslaughter in the coming days.
A dedicated team at Police has been working since the tragedy to establish if the state of the building and the management and compliance of its fire safety systems contributed to the fatal outcome.
The people we have charged today were involved with the management and operation of the building, and Police allege they were responsible for aspects of the building's fire safety system.
Police previously charged a 50-year-old man with murder in relation to deliberately lighting the fatal fire. This matter is before the High Court, with a trial scheduled to start on 25 August 2025.
Police, Fire and Emergency and the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment would like to take this opportunity to remind all those who own or manage a building, particularly buildings with sleeping accommodation, of their responsibility to ensure those who occupy their premises are protected from fire.
• Ensure your obligations are met under the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017 by having the necessary evacuation procedures in place, and an approved evacuation scheme if you have a 'relevant building'.
• Ensure the means of escape from fire for your building are maintained as outlined in the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Regulations 2018.
• Where applicable, ensure you understand the maintenance requirements for the specified systems outlined in your building's compliance schedule as required under the Building Act 2004, particularly those relating to the building emergency warning system or fire alarm.
• If you are the owner of a tenanted residential property, ensure your fire safety obligations are met under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
The loss of life and injuries experienced during this fire were preventable, and Police would like to acknowledge the long-term impact, on those who lost loved ones, the residents who lost their friends, their home and treasured personal property, as well as the many others that have been affected by the far reaching and devastating event.
As this matter is now before the courts, police will not be commenting further.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Police still following tips to find missing Christchurch woman after calling off formal search
The 79-year old called Elisabeth was last seen on Bartlett Street in Riccarton on Wednesday night. Photo: Supplied Police are still following tips from the public to find a missing 79-year-old after having called off the formal search on Friday. The woman, Elisabeth, disappeared after walking out of the Margaret Stoddart Retirement Village in Riccarton on Wednesday. She had been admitted that day for respite care. A spokesperson said the police were actively following up information from the public, but had not substantiated any sightings since Elisabeth was last seen on Wednesday. Elisabeth was wearing blue pants, a dark coloured long-sleeved top, black shoes and had distinctive long blonde/white hair. Anyone who sees Elisabeth should ring 111 immediately and use the reference number 250604/5465. Non-urgent information can be provided online here , using Update Report, and quoting the same reference number. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
1News
19 hours ago
- 1News
Foreign exchange fined amid transactions deemed 'objectively suspicious'
An Auckland-based foreign exchange and money remittance company has been convicted and fined $1.125 million for failing to report suspicious activities and to submit prescribed transaction reports. An investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) found that Qian DuoDuo Limited, which traded under the name Lidong Foreign Exchange, found it failed to report 197 international transactions to China between June 2018 and September 2019. The transactions, which totalled over $19.14 million, included 26 "objectively suspicious" activities with a value of $4.72 million and 171 involved prescribed transactions with a value of $14.42 million. The value of the nearly 200 transactions represented around one fifth of the gross value transactions undertaken by Qian DuoDuo Limited for the 2018/2019 financial year. Two individuals who completed the transactions, Xiaoyu Lu and Musubayoufa Fuati, were convicted of criminal offending. ADVERTISEMENT Fuati was convicted of structuring transactions to avoid anti-money laundering laws, while Lu was convicted of providing unregistered financial services, as well as multiple counts of money laundering. Both pleaded guilty to their charges. In sentencing, the Auckland District Court found the company failed to carry out adequate customer due diligence on the source of Fuati and Lu's funds and relied on questionable verification documents despite recognising a high risk that its operations could be used to launder money. Anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism director Serge Sablyak said Internal Affairs took offences under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 "very seriously". "Suspicious transactions have the potential to be linked to money laundering or terrorist financing activities. Prescribed transaction reports are vital in alerting law enforcement to suspected offenders and make money laundering and terrorist financing difficult to hide." Sablyak said Qian DuoDuo Limited had a "history of non-compliance". "In 2017, the Department took civil action against the company following non-compliance with its obligations, and the High Court confirmed multiple breaches of the company's legal obligations. "When financial institutions, including money remitters, continue to fail to meet their obligations under the Act, the Department can and will take action." ADVERTISEMENT Qian DuoDuo Limited appealed the District Court's decision to the High Court.
RNZ News
19 hours ago
- RNZ News
Police knew LynnMall terrorist Ahamed Samsudeen was likely to commit an attack before immigration hearing, inquest hears
Ahamed Samsudeen. Photo: New Zealand Herald / Greg Bowker Police knew about the risk of Ahamed Samsudeen committing an attack before an immigration tribunal appeal hearing to determine his deportation, an inquest has heard. The inquest into the death of Samsudeen heard evidence the police had known in the month before the LynnMall terror attack that he was likely to commit an attack before an immigration tribunal appeal hearing that was scheduled to take place on 13 September 2021. A lawyer assisting the Coroner, Erin McGill, in her examining of a senior police officer from the National Security Group, referenced an application for surveillance warrant made by the police on 17 August 2021, which raised concerns about the risk of an attack before the appeal hearing. Samsudeen was at the time being stripped of his refugee status, but his deportation was pending the outcome of his appeal. McGill asked the senior police officer whether the team surveilling Samsudeen would be aware of this information relating to the risk of an attack, to which the officer said "I would've thought so". McGill acknowledged that around the end of August, the 13 September hearing date was being rescheduled to a later date due to delays during the Covid-19 lockdown and the fact that Samsudeen had changed his lawyer. It was unclear when the rescheduled date would be. According to a timeline from a coordinated review of the management of Samsudeen , released by joint government agencies in late 2022, Samsudeen first entered New Zealand from Sri Lanka on a student visa in 2011 and subsequently was granted refugee status. He was known to police for posting objectionable material depicting graphic violence as early as 2016. In 2017, a former flatmate of Samsudeen reported to police that Samsudeen told him he wanted to travel to Syria to fight for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and that he'd commit a knife attack if he was prevented from doing that. Samsudeen was arrested in May 2017 at an airport after attempting to fly overseas, and was charged with possession of objectionable material, and would spend nearly four years in remand in custody. The senior police officer from the National Security Group was asked whether the terror attack could've been stopped sooner if a surveillance officer had followed Samsudeen into the mall on 3 September. Samsudeen had just been released from prison seven weeks prior to the attack. He was serving a 12-month community sentence and was under 24-7 surveillance by covert police officers due to the high risk he posed to national security. The inquest heard that a surveillance officer - referred to as Officer D - had followed Samsudeen on the day, but decided not to follow him into the mall. Under questioning by McGill around why Officer D made that call, the senior officer said Officer D had been surveilling Samsudeen for seven weeks and noticed nothing unusual in his behaviour that day. He also conceded that Officer D likely didn't know that the Countdown (now Woolworths) supermarket sold knives. When asked by McGill whether there would've been a different approach to surveillance on the day, if the surveillance team knew the supermarket sold knives, the senior police officer said he couldn't directly answer that. McGill also noted that Officer D's evidence stated that Samsudeen was making positive plans for the future around the time of the attack, including making enquiries about employment and accommodation options. After a long line of questions, McGill asked the senior officer if he thought the attack could've been stopped sooner if Officer D had followed Samsudeen into the mall. The senior officer said "it had the potential to raise the alarm slightly earlier", but added it's uncertain whether it would've stopped the attack earlier. He said due to the covert nature of surveillance, the officer was unlikely to have been in the same aisle as Samsudeen to see what he was doing. He conceded that if a surveillance member had seen Samsudeen taking the knife off the shelves, that would've triggered the team to call the Special Tactics Group. Earlier when Coroner Marcus Elliott opened the inquest, he said it would not be revisiting the conclusion of the Independent Police Conduct Authority finding that two officers were legally justified in shooting Samsudeen, and that the surveillance officer who decided not to follow Samsudeen into the supermarket initially, had acted reasonably. However, he said that does not mean there was nothing to learn from the attack, and the inquest would discuss recommendations. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
