The father of a Pike River Mine victim has today been left 鈥渟hocked鈥 by a police comment that a decision on whether criminal charges will be laid won鈥檛 be made until later this year and questioned whether the rationale is 鈥減olitically motivated鈥.
Bernie and Kath Monk were visited by police on the West Coast of the South Island this week and shown images of potential human remains inside an area of the coal mine where their son Michael was believed to have been working when it exploded more than 12 years ago.
Police and mining experts have been drilling holes deep into the underground mine, which exploded and claimed the lives of 29 men on November 19, 2010, searching for more clues in the ongoing criminal probe into the disaster.
Today, police revealed that new images captured from the borehole drilling programme indicate the possibility of human remains in the vicinity of borehole six.
Officers have spoken to the families of the three men believed to have been working in the area, including the Monks.
Police have been conducting more bore drilling at Pike River. Photo / 九一星空无限
However, two pathologists have viewed the images and are unable to determine whether they definitively show human remains.
Local West Coast publican Bernie Monk says although the pictures are very clear, he鈥檚 also unable to identify Michael.
鈥淎t this stage, I cannot say it is my son,鈥 he said.
Today鈥檚 announcement has further upset Monk, especially over the time it has taken for police to investigate and decide whether charges will be laid.
Images from as early as 2010 and 2011 showed images of men inside the mine, and of conditions that were conducive to a re-entry to retrieve the victim, Monk says.
He has been critical of WorkSafe and the Government for not going back in to retrieve the bodies.
鈥淵ou could walk up there in your slippers,鈥 he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a bit of rockfall and coalfall here and there but you could walk up there so easily.
鈥淭his has been a huge cover-up.鈥
Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney, the current officer in charge of the police investigation, took questions at a media conference today. Photo / George Heard
Monk is 鈥渟hocked鈥 that police can鈥檛 make a decision on whether criminal charges won鈥檛 be laid until later this year.
鈥淎re they waiting until after the election? Is it still politically motivated?鈥 he asked.
鈥淭hey should have it all by now. Because I am telling you, we have got the information ourselves. I can鈥檛 see why they can鈥檛 make their decision now.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 sat down and waited for police to do all this. We鈥檝e brought our own experts in 鈥 and we鈥檝e got more than enough ourselves, without relying on police to bring charges. But in fairness to police, we are holding back on going public on a lot of this stuff that we have got and know so we will not jeopardise their investigation.鈥
The failure to retrieve the bodies is 鈥渦nforgivable鈥, Monk says, in what he calls 鈥渙ne of the biggest industrial homicides in New Zealand history鈥.
Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney, the new officer in charge of the police investigation, fronted a media conference in Christchurch earlier today.
鈥淲e recognise this is an incredibly difficult process for the families of the 29 men killed at Pike River,鈥 Sweeney said.
鈥淲hile we can鈥檛 say with any certainty that we鈥檝e located human remains, we have shared what we鈥檝e found as well as the pathologists鈥 conclusions.
鈥淥ur thoughts are with the families as they process this news.鈥
When the borehole stage ends in the next few weeks, the criminal investigation will conclude, Darryl Sweeney says. Photo / George Heard
Work began on 10 additional boreholes in late January this year.
The final three holes will be drilled in the coming weeks, concluding the police investigation at the mine.
Sweeney said he hopes they will have some conclusions by the end of the year.
鈥淲e鈥檙e close,鈥 Sweeney said.
He added they now have the 鈥渇acts and evidence鈥 to be able to make some decisions.
However, he wouldn鈥檛 say if anyone would be charged at this stage.
In November 2021, a specialist borehole camera spotted the remains of at least two men, with the possibility of a third, in an area where six or eight men were working at the time of the explosion.
The bodies are in the 鈥渇urthest part of the mine from the entrance鈥, which means police will not be able to recover them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not unexpected, we know there鈥檚 29 men down there and we鈥檙e drilling boreholes where we know people were working,鈥 Detective Superintendent Peter Read said at the time.
鈥淲e still haven鈥檛 finished the boreholes yet so there is a possibility there might be more [bodies found] - we can鈥檛 rule that out.鈥
Smoke billows from the ventilation shaft after the fourth explosion in the Pike River coal mine where 29 miners and contractors died. Photo / File
鈥淚t鈥檚 not unexpected, we know there鈥檚 29 men down there and we鈥檙e drilling boreholes where we know people were working,鈥 Superintendent Peter Read said at the time.
鈥淲e still haven鈥檛 finished the boreholes yet so there is a possibility there might be more [bodies found] - we can鈥檛 rule that out.鈥
WorkSafe laid charges against former Pike River boss Peter Whittall in 2013, but the case was dropped after a $3.4 million settlement was paid 鈥 a deal the Supreme Court later said was unlawful.
The money was split between the two survivors and the families of the 29 missing, a total of $110,000 for each man who had been down the mine that day.
Australian company VLI Drilling, which employed three of the men who died, also pleaded guilty to health and safety charges and was fined $46,800.
Pike River Mine family members Anna Osborne (left), and Sonya Rockhouse have never stopped fighting for justice. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
The Pike River Recovery Agency (PRRA) completed its $50m re-entry of the mine鈥檚 access tunnel to try and recover remains and find any forensic clues in 2021.
It had been due to permanently seal the mine while police were partway through their borehole investigations.
But some Pike River families who lost loved ones, and had fought for years to try and get authorities to try and find their bodies, launched legal action to try and stop it from happening.
Some of the families, like the Monks, remain hopeful a criminal prosecution is still possible.
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