WorkSafe drops charge against Ashik Transport over Remuera road worker death

Johnathon Walters was killed by a runaway truck with bad brakes in Remuera last year. Photo / 123rf

By RNZ

A charge will be dropped against a trucking company involved in the death of a road worker.

Johnathon Walters was killed by a runaway truck with bad brakes in Remuera last year.

Ashik Ali – who was driving the truck at the time at a roadworks site at night – pleaded guilty to manslaughter, while WorkSafe also prosecuted his company, Ashik Transport.

But the agency now says it plans to withdraw that charge.

“The recent guilty plea to separate police manslaughter charges satisfies the public interest test of the solicitor-general’s prosecution guidelines. For that reason, WorkSafe intends to withdraw its charge against Ashik Transport Limited.”

Ashik Transport was a subcontractor to big roading company Downer.

“There was no evidence to support a charge against Downer,” WorkSafe said.

It refused to release details of its interactions in the case to RNZ under the Official Information Act, saying that could prejudice other legal proceedings including the coroner’s.

The case against Ali outraged the trucking industry, triggering calls for greater accountability for dodgy operators and regulators.

WorkSafe said it did not give any advice to its board or minister about the case.

New Zealand Transport Agency / Waka Kotahi has rejected an industry accusation the death resulted from systemic failure.

The truck remained on the road for years despite multiple safety checks and warnings to Ali.

– RNZ