Mad Dog owner hits back over death

Emily Jordan died after becoming trapped under a rock in Central Otago's Kawarau River while on a trip with Queenstown's Mad Dog River Boarding. Photo / Otago Daily Times

An adventure tourism operator slammed by a British inquest into the drowning of a 21-year-old woman on one of his tours says pleading guilty to charges over the death is his biggest regret.

Emily Jordan died in April 2008 when she was trapped underwater for 20 minutes while on a Mad Dog River Boarding tour on the Kawarau River near Queenstown.

A jury at the Smethwick Council House in the West Midlands yesterday returned a verdict of misadventure and criticised the operator for not having equipment which could have saved Ms Jordan's life.

It said other factors in Ms Jordan's death included inadequate training of lifeguards, unsuitable life jackets and a rescue craft not being available.

Black Country Coroner Robin Balmain said "the tragedy of this case is on the findings of the jury - with which I entirely agree - there is the likelihood that Emily's death could have been avoided", the Express and Star reported.

The findings come almost two years after Mad Dog River Boarding accepted two health and safety charges over the death and was fined $66,000 and ordered to pay $80,000 reparations to the Jordan family.

Mad Dog owner Brad McLeod today said accepting those charges was his "single biggest regret".

The findings of the British inquest were based on inaccurate and incomplete information spread since the 2009 charges were laid, he said.
He rejected any allegation of wrongdoing and claimed there was nothing he could have done to prevent Ms Jordan's death.

"They offered a plea bargain and I accepted that plea bargain in the hope that all parties involved would be able to move on in a positive way. It is the single biggest regret that I have - is accepting that plea bargain.

"I think about that day every day of my life... but I have to look at what I was doing at the time. We were doing an activity that poses a danger. The one thing that keeps me going is the knowledge there is nothing we could have done. Accidents happen."

Mr McLeod said his guides were well trained and carried appropriate rescue equipment.

But the British inquest and 2009 findings said Mad Dog guides carried no ropes and the company's safety plan was not up to industry standards.

Guides from another river boarding company retrieved Ms Jordan's body within minutes, using rescue ropes, reports say.

Ms Jordan's death sparked a national inquiry into adventure tourism safety standards after her father Chris Jordan expressed his concerns to Prime Minister John Key.

Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson announced new regulations in December making it illegal for adventure tourism operators to conduct risky activities without a current safety audit.

Tragedies

Adventure tourism deaths:

April 29, 2008: English tourist Emily Jordan, 21, drowns while river-boarding on the Kawarau River.

August 9, 2008: Sarah Bond, 23, dies after her quad bike fell 30m down a gully in rugged terrain west of Waitomo Caves.

September 25, 2008: Chinese tourist Yan Wang, 42, is killed when a jetboat flips over in the Shotover River near Queenstown.

March 7, 2009: Massey University student Catherine Peters, 18, falls to her death while doing a bridge swing near Woodville.

July 24, 2009: Australian Llynden Riethmuller is killed in an avalanche while on a heli-skiing trip in ranges near Methven, mid-Canterbury.

August 14, 2009: Heli-skiing guide Jonathan Harvey Morgan, 38, is killed in an avalanche while leading a group of tourists.