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John Kirk-Anderson / Stuff
Rescue efforts at the CTV building in Christchurch after the February 22, 2011 earthquake.
The CTV Family Group has called for a high-level review of the decision not to press charges for the building collapse from the 2011 earthquake, which claimed 115 lives.
A lengthy police investigation into criminal liability resulted in the 2017 decision not to pursue a case against engineers Alan Reay and David Harding. The decision was based on the advice of the Crown Law.
A royal commission found that Harding, who designed the Canterbury Television (CTV) building, was largely left without the supervision of Reay, his boss, despite Harding’s limited experience designing multi-level buildings. .
Harding was working “beyond his competence” and Reay did not revise the design, he found.
READ MORE:
* Earthquake buildings and Reay in the spotlight again
* CTV families claim prosecution decision based on incomplete information, urge government to reconsider
* Head of CTV Tragedy Investigation: ‘We didn’t think we were ever going to get a conviction’
The group’s spokesman, Maan Alkaisi, whose wife Maysoon Abbas was among the victims, said Monday that he hoped Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern would hear his request that retired High Court judges review the decision not to prosecute, in the same way. that she reacted to the mosque. shootings last year.
“I would like to remind the Prime Minister how the whole world admired her when she reacted quickly to the mosque shooting.
ALDEN WILLIAMS / THINGS
CTV Families Group spokesperson Maan Alkaisi with a message to the authorities.
“We ask the Prime Minister to listen to our request and provide the help that the victims deserve after 10 years of suffering and disappointment … the story of the CTV building collapse will only end when justice is done and seen to be done. . “
“No one can silence us,” he said.
Alkaisi also referred to the government’s response to the Pike River mine tragedy.
The group revealed that it filed a complaint with the Independent Police Complaints Authority (IPCA) in August 2019 and received a response in September this year.
In response, which was seen by Things on Monday, the president of the IPCA, Judge Colin Doherty, upheld only one point of the complaint.
THINGS
CTV Families Group spokesperson Maan Alkaisi addresses families and the media about his concern that the police failed to prosecute after the building collapse in 2011.
Doherty called it “inappropriate” and “very regrettable” that CTV families were not informed of the police decision not to prosecute before it was made public.
He disagreed with the claim in the complaint that the police were not justified in deciding not to prosecute.
“The police’s decision not to press murder charges was an appropriate exercise of their discretion and not unreasonable,” said Doherty’s response.
“According to the evidence, it was not open to them (the police) to file a charge of criminal nuisance.”
The judge said he found the police investigation to be very thorough and described the post-investigation report as detailed and exemplary.
While calling the police delay in launching its 2014 investigation “regrettable,” it noted that the decision to prosecute or did not wait until police received engineering reports and opinions from the Christchurch Crown Prosecutor and the Prosecutor Deputy General.
The delay did not represent a neglect of duty, Doherty said.
