Court halts release of balloon photos

APPEAL: Geoff Walker, as he appeared on TV3 in July.

Photographer Geoff Walker has succeeded in halting the release of photos taken of the Carterton balloon disaster, for the moment.

Four photos were due to be released yesterday, but Walker's lawyer filed papers yesterday to take the case to the Court of Appeal.

Eleven people lost their lives on January 7, 2012, when the balloon they were in hit powerlines, caught fire and fell into a field near Carterton.

Walker had a long-standing agreement with the balloon company to shoot pictures of the hot air balloon rides to sell to passengers after the flights, and was at the scene that day.

He called emergency services and captured the final moments of the balloon, and everyone on board, as it crashed and went up in flames.

During the inquest into the crash, Coroner Peter Ryan allowed four selected photographs to be released to the media showing the balloon hitting the wires, an arc of electricity hitting the balloon and catching fire, and the basket falling to the ground.

The images did not clearly show the people on board.

TVNZ, which had initially applied to have the photos released, was supported by some family members of the victims who said the shots showed the sport's danger.

But Walker argued releasing the photos breached his copyright. He took his fight to the High Court, which upheld the coroner's decision.

The court delayed releasing the pictures until 5pm yesterday, to give time for an appeal to be filed.

Walker's lawyer Doug Ewen said there was no indication yet of when a hearing might happen.