Abbey Caves tragedy: Karnin Petera’s parents still question accountability of decision-makers
As rain fell overnight, 15-year-old Karnin Petera grew uneasy about the school caving trip planned for the next day.
His mother reassured him the teachers would not let him go if conditions were unsafe.
His father offered simple advice: don’t enter the caves if you don’t want to.
Both parents emailed the school the night before and that morning with their concerns but received a response saying the trip to Abbey Caves was going ahead.
That decision not to cancel the trip cost Karnin his life after the caves flooded. He never made it home.
After three years of apologies, court hearings and public grief, Coroner Alexander Ho has confirmed what Karnin’s parents, Alicia Toki and Andre Petera, long believed.
Those responsible for planning the trip placed too much faith in their own judgment and not enough in the warnings before them.
“The warning signs were there, but they did not recognise them for what they were,” the parents said in a statement.
“They were wrong to ignore those warnings.”
The Whangārei Boys’ High School student died during the outdoor education trip that went ahead despite days of heavy rain and a severe weather warning.
Two teachers were involved in planning the trip, while a contracted outdoor instructor was brought in to help lead it.
As floodwaters surged through the cave system, 16 students escaped. Karnin did not.
While Coroner Ho made several recommendations aimed at improving student safety on future outdoor excursions, Karnin’s parents remain frustrated that no individual was ever held accountable for what they describe as their son’s “preventable death”.
“We have paid the price. But who has taken responsibility?” they said.
Toki told the coroner earlier this year during an inquest that the night before the May 9, 2023 tragedy, her son was concerned about the weather and asked “100 times” if it was going ahead.
After getting confirmation from the school that it was, they sent him to school.
As the rain continued to pour that morning, information began filtering into the Whangārei community that students were trapped in the caves.
The couple have repeatedly told authorities they got most of their information from social media and mixed messages from the school about what was going on.
Toki has told courts at previous hearings that initially, they were told all the students had made it out.
As she stood on the doorstep of the high school, she demanded the principal tell her what was going on.
“We haven’t been able to locate your son,” she was advised before she raced to the site.
For 12 hours, Karnin’s family stood in the rain waiting for answers while rescue teams battled dangerous conditions and rising water inside the cave.
The stress proved overwhelming for Andre, who collapsed and was taken to hospital.
The ruru call
Rescuers made it inside about 3pm. A group of local plumbers, armed with specialist cameras, located Karnin beneath the water shortly before 10pm.
As the water subsided and his body was brought from the cave, his parents described a stillness that fell over the area. Then six ruru began calling in the darkness.
“It was his spirit being released, it was a tohu,” his mother described.
His parents took it as a final message from their son, a sign he had crossed into the next world.
As they navigated unbearable grief, they said they expected swift accountability, including the immediate suspension of the staff involved.
Instead, WorkSafe prosecuted the school board, which was later ordered to pay more than $500,000 in reparation to the students who survived the trip.
Repeated apologies from the school offered little comfort to the couple, who could not understand how the teachers involved were still allowed to hold professional registrations.
“After Karnin died, prior to the inquest, we expected immediate action against those responsible,” they said in their statement.
“We are left wondering how a school can face a meaningful penalty if the impact on current students will always stand in the way of imposing a fine.”
They carried those concerns into the coroner’s inquest in May, where they pushed for greater accountability, stronger safety regulations and wider recognition of climate change and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.
Coroner Ho’s findings, released this week, largely echoed those concerns.
He found those responsible for planning the trip adopted an overly optimistic interpretation of weather forecasts and displayed confirmation bias.
“The teachers believed they knew better than the MetService warning for the area and the council signs warning of danger at the caves,” Karnin’s parents said.
“They went ahead despite the school’s outdoor education risk assessment form, which said to cancel if a weather warning was in place.”
The couple said they were wrong to dismiss those warnings.
Coroner Ho said the court could not determine legal liability, leaving unresolved questions from the whānau.
“We believe WorkSafe’s enforcement priorities should more readily consider charging individuals if individual decisions led to the outcome,” the parents said.
“What consequences have the teachers faced? We understand that the teachers may live with their guilt, but that does not lessen our loss.
“Our family and the other boys on the trip are living with the consequences.
“We will carry this for the rest of our lives. We have paid the price. But who has taken responsibility?”
Judge Greg Davis expressed similar concerns about the staff members’ assessment when the board was sentenced in 2024 for two counts of exposing people to death or injury.
Judge Davis asked WorkSafe at what point was there an obligation for those on the ground, but the department maintained the board’s systems had failed.
The coroner made recommendations, including clearer school policies and trip cancellation criteria, improvements to MetService information, regular safety training for teachers and stronger warning signage at Abbey Caves.
Lawyers for the staff members told NZME they had no comments to make in response to the parents’ statement.
Coroner Ho concluded his findings with a whakataukī that resonated deeply with Karnin’s family, who described it as beautiful:
“E kore ia e ngaro; he kākano i ruia mai i Rangiātea.
“I will never be lost, for I am a seed sown from Rangiātea [Hawaiki],”
Karnin’s parents said: “The coroner’s recommendation for clear, objective criteria for cancelling a trip is very important. Our son is a seed of Rangiātea”.
The couple acknowledged the support they have received from whānau and the reparation paid by the school’s insurer.
“Our heads are still clouded by grief, and we have not yet been able to make full sense of our feelings about Karnin’s death and the legal process.
“Although Karnin has died, we still feel he is here with us. We will continue to look to him to guide us in how we live our lives.
“Ko te ruru te kai whakaatu i te pō.
“The owl is the one who shows the way in the night.”
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
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