14-year-old Zara Blackie from Oamaru died when she fell in front of an oncoming car.
14-year-old Zara Blackie from Oamaru died when she fell in front of an oncoming car.
A “grossly intoxicated” teenage girl who fell in front of an oncoming car after drinking and smoking cannabis has prompted a coroner to warn young people not to drink alcohol.
Zara Joy Blackie, 14, was killed when she was struck by a car in Oamaru’s Severn St about 10.40pm on October 23, 2018.
The energetic and vibrant youngster who hoped to become a hairdresser had been living with her parents in Oamaru when tragedy struck, Coroner Heidi Wrigley noted in findings released today.
She had been spending a lot of time at her boyfriend’s home, the coroner had been told, with her parents finding it increasingly difficult to have her stay at home.
Her mother told police she felt Zara “had too much to do with alcohol at her age” but had “very tight rules at home around alcohol use”.
She explained that “if and when” alcohol was bought for Zara she was allowed to consume it only at home under supervision.
But she was aware the girl was consuming alcohol elsewhere, including at her boyfriend’s home.
The parents were also concerned about her smoking, including cannabis, with her father saying she could come home “quite smashed sometimes; with bloodshot eyes”, the coroner heard.
Zara Blackie is carried from the St Kevin's College chapel after her funeral. Photo / ODT
About 8pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2018, she left home with her school uniform, vowing to stay at her boyfriend’s house and promising to go to school the next day.
Asked about her drinking, she responded, “Yep, a couple of cans”, while her mother knew Zara had visited “a yellow druggie house” earlier that day.
A “male associate” of her boyfriend later told police the trio had shared a 2.5-3g bag of cannabis before shoplifting two 1.5L bottles of Scrumpy cider which they all drank.
About 10pm, Zara’s boyfriend had a seizure, the findings say, with police officers speaking to them on Reed St, assessing Zara as “grossly intoxicated” and her boyfriend as “visibly intoxicated and struggling to stand”.
Finding them all underage, they were dropped at their respective homes.
Her parents say she was upset, crying, and hyperventilating, asking for her boyfriend and insistent that she see him.
Zara Blackie, 14, was killed in a hit-and-run in Oamaru on October 23, 2018. Photo / Supplied
Her father tried to persuade her to stay home but she apologised and ran off, in the direction of her boyfriend’s home.
Heading to his car with the intention of picking Zara up, the father heard a loud exhaust of a nearby car and then a loud bang.
He ran to the scene and found Zara lying on the road, unconscious, and breathing irregularly.
She was rushed to hospital by ambulance but died soon after arrival.
The driver of the car that struck Zara, Joshua John Chellew, did not stop to check on her and was later convicted of failing to stop or ascertain injury/death after a crash.
He was sentenced to four months of home detention and ordered to pay $4000 in reparation. A judge said that what happened, “occurred so quickly that [Chellew, who had also consumed both cannabis and alcohol before the fatal collision] had almost no opportunity to respond to the particular circumstances”.
Coroner Wrigley prefaced her recommendations and comments by “clearly stating” that she did not blame Zara’s parents for their daughter’s death.
“Zara’s death was a tragic accident,” she wrote.
“That accident was contributed to by her gross intoxication arising from her own misuse of alcohol and potentially exacerbated by her use of cannabis. Nothing Zara’s parents did contributed to her death. They did not supply her with either alcohol or cannabis on the day of her death.”
The coroner endorsed the parenting advice provided by Te Hiringa Hauora – Health Promotion Agency and emphasised that the safest approach is for people under 18 not to drink alcohol.
She also stressed that role modelling appropriate use of alcohol is important and that a permissive attitude can increase the chances of misuse.
Coroner Wrigley also recommended that Te Whatu Ora, Te Aka Whai Ora and Te Pou Hauora Tumatanui collaborate to further publicise the advice provided to parents and caregivers about protecting rangatahi (young people) from alcohol misuse and associated harm while also making easily accessible additional resources and support for parents and caregivers to help them in developing parenting skills that support rangatahi to avoid alcohol misuse and associated harm.
“I extend my sincere condolences to Zara’s family and friends for their very sad loss,” the coroner added.
