Cleaning fogged up glasses led to Department of Conservation jetboat skipper hitting kayaker on the Whanganui River

Paddling down the Whanganui River is part of the Te Araroa Trail from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Photo / Bevan Conley

Cleaning fogged up glasses while piloting a boat up the Whanganui River led to a Department of Conservation jetboat skipper hitting a kayaker and causing serious injuries.

DoC ranger Wanihi Te Ropia Tamakehu Butler had earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of operating a vessel in a manner which caused risk to another person or property.

The charge was laid by Maritime New Zealand, under the Maritime Transport Act.

At the Whanganui District Court on Friday Butler was sentenced to pay the kayaker - a man in his 50s doing the Te Araroa trail - $10,400 in reparations over five years.

The collision happened on November 18 2020.

The kayaker was doing the 3000km Te Araroa trail to raise funds for Heart Kids. He had walked 1200km and was on his third day paddling down the river.

That morning he was paddling south from Tieke Kainga toward Pipiriki in heavy rain, and he moved over into flat water as the jetboat approached, District Court Judge Ian Carter said.

Butler and another DoC staff member were in the 5.6m boat, heading upriver to work on the Bridge to Nowhere. Butler's glasses had become fogged up.

"He took the glasses off to try to clean them. As he went to put them back on he felt the vessel hit something," Judge Carter said.

The boat was travelling at 30 to 40km/h in heavy rain, Maritime New Zealand lawyer Rufus Hancock said.

"The defendant was speeding and he wasn't keeping a lookout."

After the collision DoC staff pulled the kayaker and his kayak out of the water and took him to Pipiriki, where he was flown to Whanganui Hospital.

He suffered several broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a broken collarbone, and shoulder tendon damage was found later. Butler took responsibility for the accident, visited him in hospital and kept in touch with him.

The victim received a payment of $15,000 from DoC because he had suffered harm. He was in extreme pain for six months, Judge Carter said, was unable to work for a year and is still receiving treatment.

He didn't get ACC payments for loss of income, because he hadn't been employed immediately before the accident. His everyday life was impacted, and he became depressed and sometimes suicidal.

He had no resentment toward Butler, but his harm was ongoing.

Former Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui Trust chairman Gerrard Albert gave evidence of Butler's good character, saying he was brought up on the river and taught to respect the river and its people. He had shown remorse, care and compassion toward the victim, Albert said.

Local and territorial authorities could take some blame for the accident, in regard to safety issues on the river, he said.

But Maritime New Zealand lawyer Hancock said Butler's culpability couldn't be diminished in any way by a lack of bylaws, and he was not complying with the existing regulation to keep a constant lookout.

The kayaker wasn't wearing a lifejacket, but wearing one wouldn't have prevented the impact of "basically being run over by a boat", Hancock said. Poor visibility was also no excuse.

Butler's counsel, Mark McGhie, said his client's actions were careless, but not reckless.

He and Hancock agreed that prison and a fine would not be appropriate for Butler. Instead Judge Carter wanted Butler to pay the kayaker for his emotional harm and ongoing inability to work.

McGhie said Butler had a young family and could afford to pay $50 to $40 a week. Judge Carter sentenced him to pay $5000 for emotional harm and $5400 toward lost earnings.

The total of $10,400 is to be paid over five years, at $40 a week.

In its reaction to the accident, DoC also instituted a 90 day "stop" to staff activities on the Whanganui River, to refresh health and safety practices.