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NZ army 'culpable' in soldier's death
Sarah Robson, AAP July 25, 2013, 8:23 pm
The New Zealand army has admitted it was culpable in the death of a private who drowned in a lake during a training exercise.
The Defence Force on Thursday pleaded guilty in Auckland District Court to a charge of failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of the soldier, who fell from an inflatable boat into Lake Moawhango in late September 2012.
The charge was laid by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), whose lawyer Saar Cohen-Ronen told the court the ministry thought hard about prosecuting the Defence Force over Private Michael Ross's death.
But because of the number, scope and systemic nature of failures made, greater public scrutiny, beyond a Defence Force court of inquiry, was required.
"It wasn't just a one-off, single mistake by a single person," Mr Cohen-Ronen said.
"The Defence Force failed as an organisation to protect Pte Ross."
Pte Ross's family and the Defence Force have already agreed on reparations and because the Defence Force is a crown organisation, a fine cannot be imposed.
However, MBIE is asking Judge Stephen O'Driscoll to make a determination of the Defence Force's level of culpability over Pte Ross's death.
Pte Ross, 29, fell from an inflatable boat into Lake Moawhango during a training exercise and the court of inquiry has concluded that while his death was accidental, it could have been prevented.
Navy divers searched the lake for a week before finding his body on the lake floor, 42 metres below the surface.
Personnel not complying with safety procedures and checks was one of the main contributing factors to the drowning.
The life jacket Pte Ross was wearing had an empty gas canister, meaning it could not have been inflated if he had tried to deploy it.
Despite there being procedures in place to check life jackets, the one Pte Ross was wearing had been mixed up with jackets that had been checked and serviced.
Furthermore, Pte Ross was weighed down by more than 20kg of equipment and weapons that he didn't need to be wearing at the time.
Judge O'Driscoll will release his judgment by the end of next week.
The Defence Force court of inquiry into the death has made 33 recommendations and the Defence Force is implementing a number of measures to prevent or minimise further accidents.
A separate military police investigation into the investigation is continuing and Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman has asked the Defence Force to commission an external review of health and safety.
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