Tour booking agents and managers of resorts in White Island in New Zealand have been ordered to pay nearly 13m NZ dollars in fines and reparations
The companies were found guilty of safety breaches after volcanic eruption on White Island killed 22 people in 2019
Shareholders of the holding company for the island’s owners were criticised for profiting despite claiming no assets or bank account to hold funds
Judge Evangelos Thomas highlighted the emotional harm endured by survivors and affected families. He was particularly scathing towards Andrew, James and Peter Buttle, the shareholders of WML, the holding company for the island’s owners, who he said had “appeared to have profited handsomely” from tours to the island, despite the company claiming no assets or a bank account to hold funds.
The specific reparation sums awarded to victims and the families of those who died was suppressed for publication by the court.
The penalty for the last remaining defendant, New Zealand scientific agency GNS Science, will be announced later on Friday.
Judge Thomas said: “This case, like many others, sadly reveals how simply corporate structures can be used to thwart meaningful responses to safety breaches. There may be no commercial basis for doing so, but many would argue there is an inescapable moral one. We wait to see what the Buttles will do. The world is watching.”
