CTV families seek legal challenge over police decision not to lay charges

Monday, 30 November 2020

Rescue efforts at the CTV building in Christchurch after the February 22, 2011, earthquake.

The CTV Families Group has called for a high-powered review of the decision not to lay charges over the 2011 quake building collapse, which claimed 115 lives.

A long police investigation into criminal liability resulted in a 2017 decision not to take a case against engineers Alan Reay and David Harding. The decision rested on Crown Law advice.

A royal commission found Harding, who designed the Canterbury Television (CTV) building, was left largely unsupervised by Reay – his boss – despite Harding's limited experience designing multi-level buildings.

Harding was working “beyond his competence” and Reay did not review the design, it found.

CTV Families Group spokesman Maan Alkaisi with a message for the authorities.

* CTV families claim prosecution decision based on incomplete information, urge Govt to reconsider

* CTV tragedy investigation head: 'We didn't think we were ever going to get a conviction'

Group spokesman Maan Alkaisi, whose wife Maysoon Abbas was among the victims, said on Monday he hoped Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern would listen to its request for retired High Court judges to review the decision not to prosecute, in the same way she reacted to the mosque shootings last year.

CTV Families Group spokesman Maan Alkaisi addresses families and the media over his concerns about the police's failure to prosecute after the 2011 building collapse.

“I would like to remind the prime minister how the whole world admired her when she reacted promptly in the mosque shooting.

“We are asking the prime minister to listen to our request and provide the help the victims deserve after 10 years of suffering and letdown … the story of the CTV building collapse will only end when justice has been done and been seen to be done.”

“Nobody can silence us,” he said.

Alkaisi also referred to the Government’s response to the Pike River mine tragedy.

The group disclosed it lodged a complaint with the Independent Police Complaints Authority (IPCA) in August 2019 and received a response in September this year.

In the response, which was seen by Stuff on Monday, IPCA chairman Judge Colin Doherty upheld only one point of the complaint.

Doherty found it was “inappropriate” and “highly regrettable” that the CTV families were not told of the police decision not to prosecute before it became public.

He did not agree with the complaint’s claim that the police were not justified in deciding not to prosecute.

“The decision of police not to lay charges for manslaughter was an appropriate exercise of their discretion and not unreasonable,” Doherty’s response said.

“On the evidence, it was not open to them (police) to lay a charge of criminal nuisance”.

The judge said he found the police investigation had been very thorough and described the report following the investigation as detailed and exemplary.

While he called the police’s delay in launching its 2014 investigation “regrettable”, he noted that the decision whether or not to prosecute waited until police received engineering reports and opinions from the Christchurch Crown Solicitor and the Deputy Solicitor General.

The delay did not represent a neglect of duty, Doherty said.