Whakaari/White Island eruption: Family of victims give impact statements in court

Some family members of 23-year-old tour guide Tipene Maangi, who died in the Whakaari White Island eruption, broke down in tears as they recalled in court four years later how the tragedy shattered their world, tearing them apart.

A two-week sentencing hearing for six parties over health and safety failures in the lead-up to the eruption began at the Environment Court in Auckland on Monday.

The hearing includes hearing from affected families and follows a criminal trial into the 2019 disaster which killed 22 people and injured 25 others.

Tipene Maangi worked as a guide for White Island Tours at the time of the eruption.

Tour guide Tipene Maangi died a hero while trying to help tourists to safety after the volcanic island erupted. Photo / Supplied

His family told the court their lives had been changed forever, with many still struggling with grief and mental health challenges four years later.

In her victim impact statement, Tipene’s mother Paula Maangi said she had considered taking her own life in times of pain.

Her husband withdrew from family to deal with grief alone and died in a car accident less than a year after the loss of their son, she said.

Maangi said her daughter also shut down emotionally and stopped going to school.

The pain “never goes away”, she told the court.

Her son was fluent in te reo, a great singer and a generous brother who took his younger siblings to Rainbow’s End just two days before he died.

Maangi said she was still in disbelief that people were allowed on the island when it was at alert level two.

Judge Evangelos Thomas said the hearing was an important moment in the history of the island and the history of the tragedy.

Paula Maangi, mother of 23-year-old tour guide Tipene Maangi who died in the Whakaari eruption, gave her impact statement to the sentencing hearing at the Environment Court Photo/ RNZ/Marika Khabazi

Judge Thomas acknowledged four years was far too long to wait for the voices of those affected to be heard.

Alongside Whakaari Management, which was last year convicted for health and safety failings, the companies that also pleaded guilty for safety failings putting people at risk and due to be sentenced are White Island Tours on two charges, the three helicopter companies Volcanic Air, Aerius and Kahu each on two charges, and GNS on one charge.

Judge Thomas earlier said GNS, the Crown research institute that monitors volcanoes, would be sentenced separately on Thursday because “the issues relating to GNS are discrete and separate from those relating to other defendants”.

Where to get help:

• Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP) (available 24/7)• Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)• Youth services: (06) 3555 906• Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234• What’s Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm)• Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202 (available 24/7)• Helpline: Need to talk? Call or text 1737If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111