Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Coroner finds train death an accident

By by Doug Laing
Hawkes Bay Today·
22 Oct, 2016 07:58 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Hoods worn by a napier woman to protect her from the wind and rain on a mid-afternoon walk with a dog near her Napier South home may have contributed to the circumstances in which she died when hit by a train, a Coroner says.

Carole Lynn Boswell, mother of Hawke's Bay Magpies rugby player Trent Boswell-Wakefield, accidentally walked into the path of a train on the afternoon of September 1, 2014, and died from her injuries, Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall says in a finding released this week. Pet dog Flo was also injured and had to be put down.

The tragedy happened when they were hit by a southbound train just after the engine had passed through the Ellison St crossing, off the southern end of Napier's Marine Parade, near where Ms Boswell lived in Te Awa Ave.

Judge Marshall said there was no evidence Ms Boswell, who was regarded by family and friends as healthy and happy, would have deliberately placed herself in its path.

A workmate recalled in statements prepared by police for the inquiry it was a "drizzly, miserable day" on which Ms Boswell had finished work soon after midday suffering a head cold and saying she felt unwell.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The train driver said he had sounded the horn twice as the engine approached the crossing 5-10 minutes before 4pm and did not see anyone as they passed the bushes and fences close to the line.

They were approaching a bridge at Awatoto when he and his rail operator were advised a member of the public had told police a train may have hit a pedestrian.

They stopped the train and discovered evidence of the impact.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Judge Marshall, determining the driver was not fault, said Ms Boswell, who was 55, was wearing a "hoodie" and a large hooded rain jack, with both hoods over her head.

Police believed it would have limited her peripheral vision and the rainy and windy conditions would have limited her ability to hear the train.

"It seems she was out walking the dog and, due to the weather and what she was wearing, inadvertently walked in(to) the path of the train," Judge Marshall said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay

Hawkes Bay Today

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay
Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay

Some roads remained blocked.

17 Jul 06:02 AM
'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues
Hawkes Bay Today

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

17 Jul 04:06 AM
Premium
Premium
Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP