CAMP DEATHS Door Could Not Be Opened From Inside

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32215, 6 February 1970, Page 22

CAMP DEATHS Door Could Not Be Opened From Inside

f.Xcir Zealand Press Association) WHAKATANE, February 5. The hack-door handle had been broken before the utility vehicle in which five boys drowned on September 4 plunged off a road and sank 25 feet below the surface of Lake Matahina, witnesses told the Whakatane Magistrate’s Court today. The door could not be opened from the inside.

The hearing continued in a charge of manslaughter against Barry John Crump, aged 34. a writer, and George Vansel Johnston, aged 31. a professional guide. They have pleaded not guilty.

The boys were staying at an adventure camp at; Lake Matahina run by Crump and Johnston at which they were charged S4O for seven days. Lawrence William Ifamil-' ton, aged 13. told the court that the rear-door handle had; been broken for two or three days and that at the time of' the tragedy the vehicle, with six boys in the back and some in the front seat, was being; driven back to camp after an opossum hunt. The witness told Mr W. M-, Willis. S.M., who is hearing depositions, that the vehicle was being driven about 35* ni.p.h. along Rototaha Road.' when the vehicle hit a bump, jumped and ran off the road into the water. It immediately filled with water and the boys' inside struggled to get out. "I was trying to breathe; but it was all water ... we ; were all trying to get out,” he said. T stopped for a while and then got out through a broken window." Camp Groups The witness said he saw a feature about the camp on a television programme "Town and Around.” His parents arranged for him to attend the camp. Camp activities provided for boys to be divided into; groups. Some went with I Gary Lett, others with Crump' and some with Johnston. He mainly went with Lett. On September 4 he was; with Gary Lett and there! were nine members in the* party. They went swimming) in the morning and in the, evening went opossum hunt-' ing. Nine of them left the campl about 6 p.m. and the witness! knew Lett was an unlicensed! driver. When the vehicle had gone into the lake Gary Lett and the witness started diving and they reached the vehicle once but could only see the headlights in the murky! water—and then saw the vehicle moving down a slope.; Passenger Side Alan Hartley Seay, aged 15,! a pupil at Westlake High 1 , School, Auckland, also told; the court that the rear-door; handle of the vehicle was broken. He said he was sitting next to the passenger side doori when the vehicle went into

■ the lake. When asked why* he did not try to open the! door, he replied: “I was! drowning. I got out any way' 1 could.” Rudy Patrick Naik, called by pdlice to recover the! bodies by skindiving, said the* . vehicle was lying on its right side pointing downwards and* one boy had his head and shoulders out of a rear slidling window. The others were still inside. Mr Naik said the boy was* wearing a windproof jacket which seemed to have trapped air and was puffed up like* an inflatable lifejacket, and this seemed to have prevented him from getting through. I The other four boys were jstill inside. Mr T. M. Thorpe. Crown Prosecutor, of Gisborne, is* prosecuting: the accused are being defended by Mr D. B Paine, of Auckland, with him Mr L. H. Moore, of Whakatane. A circular describing the; features of a boys’ adventure; camp near Whakatane stated! that the directors of the camp* accepted all responsibility for* the boys in their care, a com-; pany director and secretary,! John Donald St Clair Brown,) of Auckland, told the Court.) Bookings Taken Mr Brown said he was man-) aging director and secretary; of South Pacific Salaries, Ltd,! In 1968, Crump and John-; !ston discussed with him the; ,establishment of boys’ camps! jin the Te Teko area. His company was to make) bookings, account for moneys; received and do the promo-: jtion. The company was to bej ipaid on a commission basis. 1 I The company was doing I more work for them than the; i ordinary travel agent, as it was acting as their accountant! land paying expenses. . Mr Brown produced material sent to inquirers. ! . He said that the first cyclo-. styled form was a standard' form of letter giving details! of the fee and necessary ar-’ rangements for travel to the* camp. The second described camp activities. * The third document was a) coloured brochure describing the camp. The coloured brochures were given to him by I either Johnston or Crump. !The cyclostyled description of icamp activities contained all ’the written material in the 'coloured brochure. Cyclostyled Letter The cyclostyled letter was; ) approved by Johnston and! Crump. I

One sentence read: “New Zealand has more to offer in the way of back country sport activity than any other country in the world and we show our boys how to enjoy these things safely and skilfully.” Another sentence said: “We I meet the boys at the bus depot here and from then on they are our responsibility.” * Mr Brown said that when he visited the camp he was satisfied with the standards* of care. He regarded the* skill and ability in bushcraft of Johnston and Crump as* extremely high. His company had promoted* nine camps, said Mr Browne cross-examined by Mr Pain The venture had not yet made a profit. Asked why Johnston and Crump continued to run a camp that was unprofitable, the witness said they expected that the camp would come into profit if run economically. using the experience gained. The second was the enjoy-, ment they had in running the* camp and teaching boys a type of life different from what they were used to. Re-examined, he said that he knew Gary Lett helped at the camp because he liked to do so. He drove vehicles) around the camp. He was a* competent driver If the camp had employed a licensed driver at the standard rate of pay it would, have increased the outgoings., Douglas John Lett, logging) supervisor of Te Teko. said) he was Gary Lett's father. ) He received a call from* Johnston about midnight on! September 4 informing him; of the tragedy and he helped* remove the bodies. This was) not the first time his son had* worked at the camp; his son! received no pay. Margaret Isobel Wishart, a pathologist, of Tauranga, said she performed a postmortem examination on the body of Timothy John Dyas James, one of the victims. There were some minor 1 bruises and abrasions on his ■thigh, shin and the back of 1 ! one hand. The father of the dead boy,, Anthony Vernon James, a! company director, of Tau-; ranga, said that his son was* 13 at the time of his death. ' Let Boy Go

Mr James said that his wife wrote to Johnston inquiring about the camp and was referred to South Pacific Safaris, Ltd, who sent them some cyclostyled material. He agreed that Timothy should go to the camp; and after receiving the cyclostyled material he felt confident enough to let the boy go to the camp. He paid S4O and took him to Te Teko by car, to Johnston’s home, leaving Timothy in Mrs Johnston’s care.

On September 17, he! received a letter from South; Pacific Safaris, Ltd, .and a! refund of the 840 paid. 1 Police Sergeant John; Munro, of Rotorua, said he I saw Crump at his home in Te| Teko. Crump made a state-1 ment which the witness took! down in writing. Crump) refused to sign it until he I had obtained legal advice. , Crump initialled the corrections and agreed that the statement was correct.

Asked if he knew that the lock on the rear door could be opened from inside he said he did not know. Sergeant Munro said that in his statement Crump said that about 12 months before Johnston and he decided to set up a base camp, which later became part of South Pacific Safaris, Ltd. State Forest They had tents in part of the State forest. The boys were given a night’s spotlighting for opossums on September 4. Crump’s and Gary Lett’s groups kept apart for safety reasons.

George Johnston left the camp when he returned. About 11 p.m. he became somewhat concerned but thought they would be all right. Later, a neighbouring farmer, Harold Luke, came to the camp and told him that there had been an accident, as a result of which 4 boys had been taken to hospital. He was confident that Johnston would do everything necessary and went to sleep again. He knew that Gary had no driving licence but he considered Gary an expert in . bush driving.