Coroner: Deaths of friends on way to Rhythm & Vines an ‘avoidable tragedy’

Jardon Te Hau (inset) and his best mate Waylon Uatuku were hit by a car and killed on New Year's Eve, 2022, while fighting on Back Ormond Rd. The pair were on their way to the Rhythm & Vines festival in Gisborne, when a fight that broke out in the car spilled on to the road. Photo / NZME composite

The angry last words between two good mates in the final hours of 2022 turned out to be tragically true.

Jardon Te Hau and Waylon Uatuku had planned to see in the New Year at the Rhythm & Vines festival in Gisborne, but they never made it.

As they were being driven there a fight that started about some cannabis grew into an angry exchange.

Uatuku told Te Hau he was “going home in a box”.

The exchange turned violent and the fight spilled from the back of the car they were in and out onto a darkened road.

Jardon Te Hau as he appeared in a Give-A-Little page set up soon after he was killed on New Year's Eve, 2022.

They were hit by an oncoming vehicle and killed in what a coroner has called an “avoidable tragedy”.

Jardon Thomas Te Hau, who turned 31 days earlier on Christmas Eve, died at the scene on Back Ormond Rd, between the intersection with Snowsill Rd and the Courtenay Bridge.

The cause of his death was a traumatic brain injury, Coroner Robin Kay said in findings released today.

Waylon Ruha Tanara Uatuku, 19, died at Gisborne Hospital of a traumatic head injury in the early hours of New Year’s Day, 2023.

‘Colourful character’

Te Hau was born, raised and lived all his life in Te Tai Rāwhiti and was described by whānau as having a gentle soul and would be dearly missed by his parents, siblings, partner and children.

After the accident, they paid tribute to Te Hau’s character and generosity.

“Jardon lived life to the fullest.

“He was a colourful character with the biggest heart who would do anything for anyone,” whānau said in a statement.

At the time, he was in a relationship with Uatuku’s sister.

Uatuku had bought tickets for him and Te Hau to attend the Rhythm & Vines.

The pair had been drinking since around midday, and the sister offered to drive them to the festival.

Fight brews on way to festival

The group left around 8pm, picked up some cannabis, collected a cousin and got cash and alcohol.

They were happy and excited to be going to the festival, Coroner Kay said in his inquest findings.

Uatuku was seated in the front passenger seat beside his sister, who was driving with Te Hau in the back behind her, and next to the cousin.

Things began to unravel when Uatuku asked his sister to pull over so he could smoke his cannabis, but she refused.

After an exchange among those in the car, Te Hau became irritated by Uatuku’s behaviour, and told the driver that he wanted to go home.

Suddenly, Uatuku became angry and started punching at the car, which angered Te Hau.

The tension increased. Uatuku told Te Hau he would be “going home in a box” and that he would “bury him”.

They continued to argue, as the sister drove along Back Ormond Rd and past the event venue.

The coroner said she did not stop because she was worried about what was going on, and what might happen if they went to the festival.

The pair began to fight, hitting the back of the driver’s seat.

She pulled over and discovered Uatuku had either been thrown out or fell from the car and was on the grass verge.

Te Hau got out and the two men continued to fight and stray across the road.

Hit at 77km/h

Two cars went past and one of them sounded its horn, but then a large SUV rounded the corner; its driver confused by the headlights of the parked car at high beam facing her.

Uatuku’s sister, still in the parked car, flashed her headlights at the oncoming vehicle and sounded her horn.

Travelling at 77km/h on the 100km/h road, the driver had no time to react and collided with the two men fighting on the road.

She called emergency services as Uatuku’s sister ran to Te Hau, who was lying on his back on the road.

A nurse in a following vehicle stopped to provide immediate help and found Uatuku crouched beside Te Hau “crying and screaming”.

Immediate first aid was given to Uatuku who began to fade, as helpers used a singlet, and then a towel, to try to stem blood flowing from his head.

Te Hau was pronounced dead at the scene and Uatuku was taken by ambulance to Gisborne Hospital in a critical condition. He died just after 4am on New Year’s Day.

Drivers not at fault

The coroner said that although the headlights of Uatuku’s sister’s car contributed to the deaths, he was not critical of her for acting as she did.

“She found herself, through no fault of her own, involved in a fast-moving, volatile situation and she acted as she thought best.”

He commended her for her attempts to calm the pair and to bring an end to their fighting.

“She was unsuccessful in achieving that end only because Mr Te Hau and Mr Uatuku did not listen to her.”

Coroner Kay said it was also important to note that the driver of the vehicle who ran into them was blameless in respect of their deaths.

He said it was impossible to say if the outcome might have been different had the men been standing up at the time, or wearing different coloured clothing, or if the headlights of Uatuku’s car had been dipped.

“However, I can say with certainty that Mr Te Hau and Mr Uatuku would not have died if they had not been fighting each other in the road.”

Coroner Kay said it was hard to fathom why the men had got so angry, given their “very close relationship”.

“However, I consider it highly likely that if they had not been intoxicated, they would have made different choices and would not have died that night.

“Their deaths were an avoidable tragedy,” he said.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.