Sports club, fencing contractor's actions contributed to Canterbury horse rider's death; coroner

Poor communication by a sports club and the actions of a fencing contractor contributed to the death of Canterbury horse rider Nicola Pellett in 2015, a coroner has found. Photo / File

Poor communication by a North Canterbury sports club and the actions of a fencing contractor contributed to the death of horse rider Nicola Pellett in 2015, a coroner has found.

The 47-year-old was riding with friend Athena Fisher on August 6 when they decided to "take a nosey" at a cross-country event at the Mandeville Sports Grounds near Pellett's Swannanoa home.

As the pair rode across the paddock, the leg of Pellett's horse became entangled in a piece of fencing guide wire left unattended by a fencing contractor carrying out maintenance work from the day before.

Fisher said she saw Pellett's horse try to shake the guide wire away then it began to drop its hind. She immediately dismounted her horse and ran to find her friend lying unresponsive on the ground.

Pellett died in Christchurch Hospital five days later with her husband by her side.

Fisher told the inquest last year that she tried to alert her friend to the hazard by yelling "wire" then seeing the horse trying to shake it free from its leg before falling.

In his written findings released today, Coroner Sue Johnson found that Pellett, an experienced horsewoman, died of a high-energy-impact head injury resulting from a fall from a horse.

While her death was accidental, Coroner Johnson said a lack of communication between the Mandeville Sports Club and the fencing contractor leaving the unattended guide wire contributed to her death.

She issued an order permanently suppressing the name of the contractor.

The coroner also made two recommendations to the Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand.

She recommended FCANZ publish an article in its Wired magazine and E-News to highlight measures that could or should have been taken both in regards to health and safety and communication between parties and the guide wire in order to reduce the likelihood of a similar incident happening again.

She also recommended FCANZ use its advisory role to develop and publish guidelines for fencing contractors, regarding fencing in public areas.

In her findings, Coroner Johnson said she accepted the contractor did not foresee that his guide wire would contribute to a death or serious injury, however, he was aware that it was a hazard.

"He was also aware that people [including horse riders] could access the Back Paddock, when he left it unattended and tensioned on the morning of August 6."

The coroner also found the sports club did not communicate the publicly accessible nature of the site to the contractor, did not seek a health and safety plan from him, took no responsibility for signage, site closure or management of the hazards, while overall there was "insufficient communication" between both parties preceding Pellett's death.

FCANZ board member Andrew Johnson also gave evidence to the effect that the contractor's work was "common practice", however they had to be "100 per cent sure" there would be no one using the site while it was unattended.