The father of a teenage worker who was crushed by a rubbish truck when its brakes failed wants individuals held responsible for her death.
Philip Devonshire said the introduction of daily checks on the fleet of rubbish trucks and fines imposed on the companies responsible for them was too late to save his daughter's life.
He wants Auckland Council and its contractors to be made accountable.
Refuse worker Jane Lee Devonshire was killed in August 2015 when a rubbish truck, owned by Auckland Council contractor Onyx, went over a cliff in Birkenhead on Auckland's North Shore.
Jane Lee Devonshire was killed in rubbish truck crash.
Jane was in her fifth week on the job working as a rubbish runner. She was standing on the left side of the cab when the brakes failed, causing it to careen 120m down a hill and over a cliff.
The 19-year-old was thrown from the truck and crushed when it landed on her. The driver had to be cut from the cab.
Devonshire said Friday's conclusion of the case in the Auckland District Court, where the rubbish truck's owner Truck Leasing Ltd [TLL] was fined $110,000 over the death, was not the end for Jane's family.
"I just want someone held responsible. I just want somebody charged over the death of Jane. All the rest of them, all they got was just a fine and a smack on the wrist and it just goes on their firm."
Last year Auckland Council and contractors Onyx (now called Veolia) and NP Dobbe were ordered to pay $255,000 in fines and reparations over the death after pleading guilty to charges under the Health and Safety in Employment Act for failing to take all practical steps to ensure employees were not harmed.
TLL pleaded not guilty but was found guilty after an investigation showed a series of faults with the truck and problems with the company's fleet, where two other trucks had been in crashes including one fatal.
In sentencing on Friday Judge Robert Ronayne said the Sterling trucks in TLL's fleet were "inherently unsuitable for rubbish collection" and "obviously worn out", and that the company was aware of this.
The rubbish truck went over a cliff. Photo / Greg Bowker
A warning light in the crashed truck had also been removed from the dashboard, the court heard.
Devonshire said he repeatedly asked police, who led the prosecution, why they did not take manslaughter charges against individual employees of the companies involved.
Police told the Herald on Sunday they could not answer the question on the weekend.
Council was unable to provide comment last night.
An employment law expert said New Zealand law did not allow for corporate manslaughter charges.
Auckland University professor Bill Hodge said there were several high profile cases in New Zealand where police took manslaughter charges against company individuals but they were acquitted.
In 1997 an 8-year-old Henderson girl was killed at Waikaraka Park speedway in Auckland when she was hit by a flying wheel.
The driver of the car was charged over her death but the prosecution was not successful.
In 2001 airline pilot Captain Garry Sotheran was acquitted of four counts of manslaughter and three of injuring passengers.
He was charged after a Dash-8 Ansett commuter flight from Auckland to Palmerston North crashed into the Tararua Ranges killing the flight attendant and three passengers.
"So it is possible in a bad accident to charge individuals in the high court for manslaughter," Hodge said.
"Generally however juries don't like it very much and I think in each of the cases the individuals were acquitted because it was more institutional failure and the jury I guess is signalling they didn't like the finger being put on the shoulder of one or two employees."
