Roofing accident may bring manslaughter charge - coroner

Coroner McElrea found that Mr Down had died as a result of an accidental electrocution. Photo / Thinkstock

An as of yet unidentified person could be guilty of manslaughter after a roofer was electrocuted in 2011, a coroner has found.

Mr Down, 55, a roofing contractor, was inspecting a property in Christchurch on March 17 2011.

While inspecting the roof, Mr Down supported himself on the metal wall of a freezer room located at the rear of the property, and then suddenly collapsed.

When paramedics arrived Mr Down could not be revived and died at the scene, Coroner McElrea found.

Coroner McElrea found that Mr Down had died as a result of an accidental electrocution.

Orion New Zealand Limited attended the scene, disconnected the power and conducted an inspection of the freezer room and found that the main earth wire had been disconnected from the main junction box.

An extensive police inquiry followed, and found that the disconnection of the main earth wire to the freezer had been done deliberately.

"The person responsible for removing the earth wires resulting in Mr Down's death could be culpable of manslaughter," Coroner McElrea found.

Police continued with their investigations to try and identify who was responsible for the "negligent and incompetent work", Coroner McElrea found.

Police established that in 2003, a company had constructed the freestanding freezer room, and the person who had helped construct the freezer had since died and was unable to be interviewed by police.

Before Mr Down's death, a refrigerator serviceman, whose name is suppressed, was also hired to reconnect the condensing unit and evaporator on top of the freezer container.

During the construction, the element for the door frame heater became pinched and caused a fault.

Police interviewed this man on three occasions, but he emphatically denied removing the earth wire, Coroner McElrea said.

The man did however, admit to other unrelated actions and was fined by the Electrical Workers Registration Board.

Coroner McElrea found that Mr Down's death highlighted the lack of a comprehensive central register or database, for electrical records for low risk and general electrical work.

"Lack of this type of information has hampered the police in their investigation of this case and their ability to prosecute a person for an illegal act that has resulted in the death of a person."

He made recommendations to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, WorkSafe New Zealand and the Electrical Workers Registration Board that such a database be established.