A boat capsized in the harbour near Clarks Beach on the night of November 6 last year. photo / Michael Craig
A man has been charged with manslaughter after a fatal boating incident on the Manukau Harbour late last year.
A boat capsized in the harbour near Clarks Beach on the night of November 6.
Gemma Ferregel, 39, died during the incident and her 10-year-old son Ryder remains lost at sea.
An investigation has been underway into the incident which included a legal review, police said in a statement today.
Police have arrested and charged a 62-year-old man with manslaughter. He is expected to appear in the Manukau District Court today.
“Police acknowledge the profound impact this incident has had on the families involved and the wider community,” Inspector Joe Hunter, the area commander for Counties Manukau South, said.
The search operation for Ryder, a talented motocross rider, involved support from Search and Rescue, volunteers, Coastguard and the Police Eagle helicopter.
Police formally suspended the search for Ryder more than two weeks after the incident.
Three others on the boat survived the tragedy, two of them swimming to shore freezing and exhausted to raise the alarm.
Newton Ferregel, Gemma’s ex-husband and father of Ryder, earlier told the Herald it was tough telling his other son, Kazdan, 13, his mother had died and his little brother was lost at sea.
“All the kids were all close to Ryder, they are holding up pretty well but they don’t like to talk about it much,” Ferregel said. “Ryder is the first person they have ever lost. The two Ryders were exactly the same age and went to the same daycare. My Ryder was called Ryder F and the other one is Ryder H.”
He said he misses everything about his youngest son who was “a loving, cheeky character”.
“He was an outdoorsy kid who was always on the go. He loved his motocross and was good at digger driving. You would never see him on a computer, he was always outside and by my side helping me.”
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