Kayak hire boss pleads guilty over deaths of tourists, ordered to pay $300k in reparations

View of Motuariki Island in Lake Tekapo. Two young tourists drowned on the lake in 2015.

A kayak hire boss charged over the deaths of two tourists in New Zealand on a "holiday of a lifetime" has today been ordered to pay both families and other victims more than $300,000 in compensation.

Daniel Thomas Hollnsteiner, 21, from New York, and James Robert Murphy, 20, from London died when a group of 11 exchange students from Melbourne's Monash University got into trouble on Canterbury's Lake Tekapo last year.

The group had arrived in the South Island the day before and had spent the night star-gazing on the shores of the picturesque lake.

On September 25 last year, the group hired kayaks from Ricky John Hartnett's local firm, Aquanorts.

At Timaru District Court today, Hartnett admitted having had "little or no kayaking or seafaring experience" and no qualifications or licence for his company's rescue boat which was not big enough for all 11 victims.

Maritime NZ also said his safety boat, a SmartWave 2400 was "not suitable for the conditions on the lake on the day of the accident".

Hartnett checked the MetService weather forecast before he left home that morning and felt it was "looking like a perfect day all day".

However, the forecast actually showed an increase in wind speed developing later in the day, Maritime NZ's summary of facts states.

At its strongest, the wind on the lake that day was probably 27-37km/h with gusts of 46km/h, the court heard.

The victims hired the kayaks at about 1.40pm, telling Hartnett they would be out for 1-2 hours and would pay at the end.

Maritime NZ found that Hartnett "did not give an adequate safety briefing" to the victims.

"None of the victims were asked individually if they had been kayaking before," the summary states.

"The victims in fact had varied experience of kayaking. One victim was very experienced, however at least two of the victims had never kayaked before.

"One of the victims could not swim. Other members of the group had kayaked when they were younger but had not been kayaking for a long time.

"The collective kayaking experience of the victim was limited."

The victims were not specifically referred to the two Aquanorts signs on the beach which stated: "ALL kayaks must remain visible to the beach area".

No demonstration was given to the victims on how to use the kayaks or any wet-exit or self-rescue training, the court heard.

While they were given life jackets, they were not told what to do in the event of an emergency or capsize.

However, Hartnett denied failing to give an adequate safety briefing or that he failed to advise the group of the operating area.

After heading out on the lake at about 1.50pm, the group decided to head for Motuariki Island in the middle of the lake.

By 3pm, Hartnett realised he did not have sight of the group, and hadn't seen them for around 35 minutes.

James Murphy, student from the UK who died at Lake Tekapo while on a trip with students from Monash University in Melbourne.

The wind on the lake had now picked up.

Hartnett launched his safety boat to look for the victims but soon decided that the lake conditions were "too dangerous" and he returned to shore.

Hartnett had no cellphone or any other form of communication including flares on him.
It is believed that it was around this time the victims got into trouble.

"The waves on the lake were crashing over the kayaks and the kayaks started to fill up with water," the court heard.

A number of the kayaks capsized and five victims fell into the lake.

Hartnett raised the alarm at about 3.30pm.

By 4pm, the victims had been in the icy water for about 45 minutes.

At about 5pm, a helicopter crew found Murphy and another victim on the western shore of the lake. Murphy was dead.

Six other victims were found on Motuariki Island.

At 5.35pm, the helicopter crew found the remaining three victims on the western shore of the lake.

Hollnsteiner was reported as having been found dead.

Hartnett pleaded guilty to two charges laid by Maritime New Zealand; failing to take all practicable steps to ensure that no action or inaction by him while at work harmed any other person, and of operating a ship without holding the appropriate current maritime document.

At sentencing today, the court has heard multiple harrowing victim impact statements.

One of the survivors, Sarah Novak - who was 20 years old at the time - described how the weather turned suddenly while out on the lake.

The wind picked up and tipped her kayak over, sending her into the freezing water.

Murphy tried to rescue her but was also capsized.

They decided that the only option was to swim for shore or they would "die out there". As the waves picked up, the cold water chilled their limbs.

Novak kepy saying she couldn't go on, but Murphy encouraged her to keep swimming for shore.

After about an hour, Novak used the last of her energy to crawl on to the beach where she collapsed. She looked back and saw Murphy still in the water and "not moving much".

Although she was shaking with cold and fearing she would pass out, she went back to try and help Murphy. She grabbed his lifejacket and dragged him ashore where she tried to do CPR on him. He did not respond.

Crying and feeling herself losing consciousness, she "had to fight the urge to just lie down next to James and close my eyes".

She tried to walk back to the township and kept falling over.

A rescue helicopter picked her up and took her to hospital where she was treated for severe hypothermia.

She feels that if Hartnett had given the group a full safety briefing, as well as clear parameters of where they could paddle, and if Hartnett had called emergency services sooner, then "maybe my friends would be alive today".

One UK victim says he is lucky to be alive, and is still haunted at seeing the "life drain from Dan's eyes" as the New Yorker tried to rescue him.

Daniel Hollnsteiner from Buffalo New York was one of two students from Monash University who perished when their kayaks capsized on Lake Tekapo 25 September 2015.

The Murphy family travelled from England to be in court today.

They described the loss of a son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, boyfriend, and "most of all a friend to many".

Murphy was a passionate philosophy student, founder of the philosophy football team at the University of Warwick, and an FA-qualified football coach who taught the game to children.

His mother Sue described him as "kind and generous", and someone who made people laugh and always wanted to help people.

"We will always love you and never forget you," his father John said.

Hollnsteiner's parents Peter and Ria came from New York to be in court and represent their son who they called a "very special young man".

Hollnsteiner was intelligent, athletic and had achieved "remarkable success" in his short life.

At Monash University, he was at the "peak of his happiness", Peter said, living life to its fullest.

But his life was "recklessly cut short" in an accident that "should never have happened".

"How could this happen? He was a healthy and strong young man," Peter said.

He described the pain and anger for his family who did not celebrate Christmas last year, and do not plan to do so this year.

The tragedy was "absolutely the worst thing that has ever happened to us", Peter said, with the heartache "embedded in our deepest core".

The Hollnsteiner family hopes that Hartnett's "gross negligence" means he will have to live with his conscience, and they hoped he would dedicate the rest of his life in honour of their son, Daniel.

Crown prosecutor Alice McCubbin-Howell said the primary considerations for sentencing were ones of denunciation, deterrance, accountability, and compensation for the victims and their families.

It was important to deter "unsophisticated operations" like the one that Hartnett was running, she said.

Hartnett was criticised over his failure to identify and respond to obvious risks.

Compensation should reflect the "significant trauma, anguish and suffering" of victims and the families, McCubbin-Howell said.

John and Sue Murphy, and son Michael, today welcomed the sentence handed down to Lake Tekapo kayak operator Ricky Hartnett at Timaru District Court.

Family members seated in the public gallery nodded in agreement as Judge David Saunders said that no amount will ever compensate for the emotional suffering that they continue to endure.

It was a "very difficult task", the judge said, in trying to compensate the value of a life, saying that the amount was more of a "symbolic recognition there has been harm done".

Hartnett today "sincerely apologises" for the grief and hurt suffered by the families, defence counsel Richard Raymond QC said.

The "absolute tragedy" which occurred at Lake Tekapo, "a place special to many New Zealanders", will have "far-reaching and devastating" consequences, he said.

Hartnett's remorse is genuine and very deeply held, the court heard.

He is often overwhelmed by grief for the victims and their families, and struggles every day to make sense of what happened, Raymond said.

However, Hartnett claims that he did ask the group that day about their kayaking experience and had advised them of what the operating area was.

He also says he "specifically" told them to stay visible to the beach area - a message that was also signposted on the shore.

Weather reports suggested it was a "perfect day ... clear, calm, sunny" with mainly light winds and a southeasterly expected later in the day.

Raymond said it was "no wonder the students were marvelling at that scenery".

It was "a sad fact", the lawyer said, that had the group stayed visible to the beach area, the weather change, which occurred earlier than expected, wouldn't have had the impact that it did.

Hartnett had not been offering adventure kayaking, but rather "resort-style kayaking on the foreshore of Lake Tekapo", Raymond said.

Hartnett's greatest failure, Judge Saunders said, was that once weather had changed, he failed to mount an effective rescue operation.

He ordered Hartnett to make payments of $90,000 to both the Hollnsteiner and Murphy families as emotional harm reparation.

The judge also said Hartnett must pay a further $25,000 to each family as consequential reparation, to cover the costs of funerals, travel and other expenses.

The three victims who were hospitalised after the incident will receive $15,000 each in emotional harm reparation, plus an additional $500 each for consequential reparation.

The six other victims will receive $7500 each in emotional harm reparation, with consequential reparation of $500.

The court heard that Hartnett's insurance policy will cover the reparation amounts.

Judge Saunders said a fine of $70,000 would've been appropriate, but Hartnett does not have the means to pay it. Instead, he ordered him to carry out 200 hours of community work.

After sentencing today, Maritime NZ's general manager maritime compliance Harry Hawthorne says the tragic case sends a message to all adventure tourism operators that they must take their responsibilities seriously.

"Lives are at stake," he said.

"Other types of operators should also learn lessons from this event."