Man who died jumping from Wellington waterfront crane was on mix of drugs and alcohol

RNZ News

a day ago

The Hikitia floating crane in Wellington.
Photo:
RNZ / Michael Cropp
A coroner has found a man who
jumped from a crane on the Wellington waterfront
died as a result of methamphetamine and cold water immersion.
On 26 January, 2024, Jarreth Colquhoun, 33, leapt from the crane of the SS Hikitia at the Taranaki St Wharf.
The report said he reached the top - nearly 40 metres up - threw his cap down and waved to the public, before jumping into the water.
He surfaced briefly, face-down, and then sunk. His body was found on the sea floor two hours later by the police dive squad.
Coroner Rachael Schmidt-McCleave ruled on the balance of probabilities he did not die by suicide, rather it was likely the result of a combination of methamphetamine and cold water immersion.
While Colquhoun had no fixed abode at the time of his death, Schmidt-McCleave found he "appeared to be in a happy place in his life".
"He was fit and active, albeit somewhat impulsive at times, especially when he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol," she wrote.
"I consider that Jarreth's actions on 26 January were motivated by a belief that he could successfully make the jump, a belief that might have been enhanced by the drugs and alcohol in his system."
An external examination, CT scan, and toxicological analysis revealed a blood alcohol level of 71mg per 100ml - for comparison, the legal blood alcohol limit for a New Zealand driver 20 years and over is 50mg per 100ml.
Cannabis and methamphetamine were detected in his blood, at levels "primarily associated with recreational use", the report said.
Coroner Rachael Schmidt-McCleave.
Photo:
RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The Hikitia's crane is approximately 35-40 metres high. The vessel was owned by the Wellington Harbour Board from 1926 to 1990, then transferred to the Maritime Heritage Trust of Wellington in 2006.
It was now primarily used as an event venue and floating museum, although it was still a working crane, occasionally used for maintaining port infrastructure and civil defence.
It has been the site of previous jumping incidents, including the
2015 death of 20-year-old Jamie Gibbon
.
There were CCTV cameras on-board and signs all around the ship stating, "No unauthorised entry", but Schmidt-McCleave said the trust had acknowledged that "if someone was minded to climb the crane, it could be done by a reasonably athletic person".
Senior Constable Glenn Marshall of the police was tasked with measuring the height of the boom off the water.
He found it was 38.179 metres above the waterline - about the height of a 12-storey building - and the speed an object would be travelling at when dropped from that height would be 98 kilometres an hour when it hit the water.
Fencing on the Wellington waterfront in 2025.
Photo:
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
At the time of the incident, the trust had in place "signage, cameras, and a lockable fixture to the ladder rungs going to the upper works, which met, and indeed exceeded, the existing industry practice", the coroner's report noted.
And within a week of the death, the trust turned the crane so instead of facing straight out over the water, it was about 30 degrees to port from the bow of the vessel, "making a water jump far more difficult and unappealing".
It had also installed a small number of additional cameras in the upper works of the crane, and intended to add more, along with a motion activated voice recording to target any trespassers.
Peter McKnight, a Maritime Heritage Trust of Wellington trustee, told RNZ Colquhoun's death had a "significant impact" on the volunteers who work on the ship on Saturdays.
"We continue to express our condolences to the family. It must be a terrible loss."
He said the location of the ship was unlikely to change, but it was in discussions with the council about the position of the crane arm, and further security measures.
At the time of the death, no barrier was in place between the wharf and the Hikitia.
Temporary fencing was regularly put up for large scale events, such as Matariki and New Year's Eve.
Despite the Manu World Championships scheduled to be held nearby that afternoon - although the event was moved last-minute following Colquohoun's accident - signage and fencing did not extend into the vicinity of the crane.
Malcolm McWhannell, a technical specialist for Heron Construction and a life member and former councillor of the Crane Association, was included in the report saying industry standards to limit people accessing barges and cranes were "somewhat weak at best", with most companies using signs as their first line of defence.
A "lightweight barrier system" had been installed since the death - but McWhannell said that would be acting as "little more than a visual deterrent".
Schmidt-McCleave endorsed recommendations made by fellow coroner Katherine Greig following the death of Sandy Calkin, whose
body was found in the harbour
a week after he was last seen on Queens Wharf after a night drinking with friends in July 2021.
Greig recommended at the time Wellington City Council "gives urgent priority to the edge protection workstream of the Waterfront Safety Enhancement Programme".
A Wellington City Council spokesperson told RNZ it had made good progress on this, setting aside $11.1 million in the draft 2025/26 Annual Plan toward possible edge protection improvements.
Temporary fences were in place while it considered its options but there had been "significant improvements to lighting" and updates to its health and safety processes for waterfront events.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.