Sandy Calkin's body was found in Wellington harbour, near where he was last seen alive on CCTV footage.
Sandy Calkin's body was found in Wellington harbour, near where he was last seen alive on CCTV footage.
The Wellington City Council undertook a thorough investigation and prepared a lengthy report for a man who fell down an unprotected hole near a statue on the waterfront, but made no efforts to investigate the death of a young man who died after apparently falling into the harbour.
An inquest into the death of Wellington man Sandy Calkin has heard about his last movements on the night he disappeared and how police believe he drowned.
Calkin died in July 2021 following a night out with friends. The 30-year-old’s body was found in Wellington Harbour a week later.
Under questioning from the counsel assisting the coroner Josh Shaw, the council’s parks, sports and recreation manager Paul Andrews admitted that in the case of a death or fatality on the waterfront they relied on the police or coronial investigation, rather than conducting their own investigations.
Around the time of Calkin’s death in July 2021 a child fell into the water at the waterfront and had to be rescued, which was followed by what is known as ‘the Kupe statue’ incident, where a person fell into an unprotected hole around the waterfront statute, requiring 30 stitches. This resulted in a council investigation and a 30-page report about improvements and changes that were needed.
“That seems perplexing that the same sort of process wouldn’t follow a fatality. Do you agree that is somewhat, to put it mildly, perplexing?” Shaw asked Andrews.
“I agree, the incidents and fatalities occurred over decades, if we go far enough back, and they’ve all been in different parts of the waterfront and in different circumstances and yes there was never any investigation of those fatalities.”
“It’s a unique environment that presents its own set of challenges,” he said.
Shaw asked if the Kupe incident had gained attention because Worksafe were notified, “but these other very serious, fatal tragic incidents, which on one categorisation didn’t trigger a mandatory report to Worksafe, simply got left.”
Andrews said he was personally involved following those three incidents and as a result of that council had gone back and looked at similar incidents in the past.
The inquest heard the council recorded just 13 incidents at the waterfront in the seven years to 2022. Only two resulted in recommendations or findings. Yet information collected by Calkin’s father Roger - which drew on media reports and coronial inquiries - found there had been 19 serious incidents at Wellington waterfront over the same period.
Andrews said the council had made changes since then, including a new system that was better at recording serious incidents that occurred at the waterfront.
The inquest, before Coroner Katharine Greig, will consider a number of questions, including the cause of Calkin’s death, whether there are adequate and appropriate safety measures in place at Wellington’s waterfront and if sufficient steps have been taken to address public safety risks.
An evening out with friends
Detective Constable Simon Cobb told the inquest on the night of Calkin’s death he was in a good mood, first attending work drinks at L’affare, where he worked as a coffee roaster, before heading to a friend’s flat for drinks and then dinner at an inner-city restaurant with friends he’d met through kickboxing.
During the evening, Calkin complained to several people about a lack of money because of strange transactions from his bank account, which police believe were linked to a website for online gaming, one of Calkin’s hobbies.
He’d left the restaurant with a friend, walking to a bar on Courtenay Place, where he stayed until after midnight before leaving to come home. A friend offered to pay for an Uber, but he declined saying he had a train ticket.
Roger Calkin says not a day goes by when he doesn’t miss his “kind and caring” son Sandy. Photo / Mark Mitchell
CCTV footage presented to the inquest shows Calkin wearing his distinctive maroon hoodie walking from Courtenay Place, along the waterfront. The last CCTV image of Calkin was taken at 12.37am passing the northern end of the Crab Shack restaurant. It’s believed he was walking to catch the train home to Cambourne, north of Wellington, after 1am.
When Calkin failed to return home his family reported him missing and police issued two press releases seeking information from the public about his disappearance.
On July 17, the police dive squad retrieved Calkin’s body from the harbour, close to where he was last seen on CCTV footage. The inquest heard there was alcohol, amphetamines (found in ADHD medication) and cannabis in his system. His blood alcohol level was 217 mg of alcohol per 100 ml. The legal limit is 50mg per 100 ml.
The inquest heard police estimated he’d had 11 alcoholic drinks throughout the afternoon and evening.
Friends reported that while Calkin was drunk, he could hold a conversation and was steady on his feet.
The pathologist initially found there were marks on his arms, which could be consistent with being held. But Detective Cobb said these may have been sustained while he was in the water and police were satisfied no one else was involved in Calkin’s death and he had died from drowning.
The hearing began this morning with a statement read by Calkin’s mother, Maria. She told the inquest how her son loved kickboxing and was both flexible and fit. He was also a fan of online gaming and had friends all over the world. He loved being a big brother and had a great group of friends.
The family believed Calkin had tripped on the corner of the wharf and hit his head while falling into the water. With the weight of his clothing there was no chance of him getting out of the water, she said.
Maria finished her statement by urging the council to improve waterfront safety for all victims, “so no one has to suffer the way we have”.
Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media advisor at the Ministry of Justice.