Hannah Francis investigation: police inspector says he would press charges if given the chance

A police inspector who decided not to press charges after a bus accident that killed an 11-year-old boy says he would do things differently.

Detective Inspector Neil Forlong was the one who told Hannah Francis’ family that no one would be charged with her death when a runaway bus crashed two years ago.

Hannah was killed in a bus accident on Mt Ruapehu in July 2018 after the bus rolled near the Tūroa skating rink, while terrified passengers screamed and one jumped off the bus.

The driver, who has name suppression, rejected suggestions that he was too fast in a tight corner or wore down the brakes on the Mitsubishi Fuso.

How the Ohakune Mountain Rd bus ride went so bad that day in July 2018 is still unknown, but Forlong said today in an investigation that he changed his mind about whether he should have pressed charges, Newshub reported.

“Knowing then what you know now, would that recommendation be different?” Matt Francis, Hannah’s father, asked Forlong.

“Yes, it probably would be,” he replied.

The driver had told Forlong that an auxiliary switch was inadvertently tripped, he said, causing him to lose control going down the mountain.

If on, the switch drains a tank that contains air pressure for the brakes. But the bus was found with the switch off and still air in the tank.

“My assessment at the time was that there was a reasonable doubt,” Forlong said.

Expert evidence in court said that even if those brakes had failed, as the driver said, a secondary brake system should have been activated.

But Forlong said today’s investigation was the first time he heard that.

At the time, a legal team advised the police not to prosecute the driver.

But Forlong said it was not a decision he was completely comfortable with.

“If it’s a wrong decision, I have no problem apologizing to the family for it now, personally apologizing for my mistake,” he said.

Yesterday, the investigation heard that some Ruapehu Alpine Lifts buses went from making two trips a day to 10 or more.

The Herald previously discovered that the 1994 Fuso bus had failed several Certificate of Fitness inspections.

And on Wednesday, the investigation in Auckland heard that a Ruapehu Alpine Lifts employee left shortly after the accident, citing an increased workload for the old buses.

The former employee said that prior to 2017, buses only transported workers between Ohakune and the skifields about two or three times a day.

But a change in the business model in 2017 meant the company began transporting tourists, with buses sometimes making 11 trips a day.

The driver told the investigation that he shared some of that employee’s concerns.

“The bus was already old and then, because of that message, that kind of thing could have caused the accident,” he told the Forensic Court.

Alistair Darroch, an attorney for Vehicle Testing New Zealand, asked the driver about brake attenuation, which was referring to a reduction in stopping power due to repeated use.

Darroch said a witness driving behind the bus reported that they smelled the brakes, as did some passengers.

The driver agreed that the smell was a sign of the brakes overheating.

But he refused to accept that it was possible that he had used the brakes excessively when he was going downhill the day of the fatal accident.