A fencing contractor for 50 years, Woodford had used Powergel explosives throughout his working life to blow up rocks in the ground to make fence post holes.<\/p>\n
Powergel is a high-strength, robust detonator-sensitive emulsion explosive with similarities to gelignite.<\/p>\n
Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame. Photo \/ Pool<\/p>\n
Coroner Cunninghame said that at some stage, Woodford upgraded his equipment and no longer needed explosives.<\/p>\n
He stored the Powergel in a shed for many years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2023, he tried to return the Powergel to the store where it was purchased, but staff would not accept it,\u201d the coroner said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Woodford then approached police, who also refused to take the Powergel and recommended that Mr Woodford return it to the manufacturer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Woodford\u2019s wife, Adele Woodford, said at that stage he was \u201cat a loss as to what to do with the explosives, and so they remained in the shed\u201d.<\/p>\n
In the lead-up to his death, Woodford and his wife discussed plans to move the shed and use it to store firewood.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs Woodford reminded her husband that the Powergel would need to be disposed of before the shed could be moved,\u201d Coroner Cunninghame said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey discussed a plan to move the explosives on the evening of 30 January 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a child, Mr Woodford had helped his father build a hut at Waterloo Station. The family had been going there ever since.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough they did not discuss it explicitly, Mrs Woodford understood that was where Mr Woodford planned to deal with the explosives from the shed.\u201d<\/p>\n
On January 31, Woodford packed food and supplies and set off for the hut, telling his wife he would be back after 1pm the next day.<\/p>\n
But he did not return as planned.<\/p>\n
Adele Woodford contacted her husband\u2019s brother Mark Woodford, who he\u2019d worked with for many years.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe immediately travelled to the hut to look for Mr Woodford, where he came across Mr Woodford\u2019s ute with its door open,\u201d Coroner Cunninghame said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Woodford was lying dead nearby, about a metre and a half away from a large hole in the ground. <\/p>\n
\u201cPolice officers attended and found several small, half-exploded detonators near Mr Woodford\u2019s body.\u201d<\/p>\n
A coroner says police could have done more to help a man trying to dispose of old explosives. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n
A post\u2011mortem examination confirmed Woodford died from catastrophic blast injuries to his chest, head and neck.<\/p>\n
The pattern of injuries suggested he had been holding the explosive in his left hand while crouching or sitting.<\/p>\n
After the tragedy, the Defence Force bomb squad ensured the remaining explosives were safely detonated.<\/p>\n
Woodford\u2019s death was referred to Coroner Cunninghame so she could formally determine the circumstances, including how he came into possession of Powergel and his contact with the police regarding the disposal of explosives.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Woodford had made inquiries about how to safely dispose of the Powergel. <\/p>\n
\u201cNeither line of inquiry was helpful, so Mr Woodford decided to destroy it by detonating it in a remote area. Unfortunately, this resulted in his death,\u201d she said in her findings, released publicly today.<\/p>\n
\u201cContacting the NZDF when explosives are found and need to be safely detonated is the preferred approach. However, this was not the guidance given to Mr Woodford when he made inquiries about disposing of the Powergel.<\/p>\n
\u201cHad he taken advice from the NZDF, Mr Woodford would not have tried to detonate the Powergel himself and the tragic consequence could have been avoided.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coroner Cunninghame said the bomb squad advised that \u201ccommercial explosives are inherently dangerous even in trained hands\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cExplosives, commercial or otherwise, deteriorate over time and become less stable and a lot more volatile, becoming more sensitive to heat, shock and friction as they age,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDetonators especially pose a high risk as they are highly sensitive when produced.\u201d<\/p>\n
During her inquiry into Woodford\u2019s death, Coroner Cunninghame advised police she proposed to recommend that a reminder be issued to all staff that when a member of the public has unused explosives and seeks advice on how to dispose of them, \u201cthe NZDF Bomb Squad is contacted so that arrangements can be made for safe disposal\u201d.<\/p>\n
Police said work was already underway to improve how such situations were handled, including guidance \u201caccessible to all staff via an application on police-issued devices\u201d that sets out the required actions when members of the public report possessing disused explosives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition, the standard operating procedures used by police communications staff for managing such reports have been reviewed to ensure they remain current and fit for purpose,\u201d police replied to the coroner. <\/p>\n
Coroner Cunninghame also approached the NZDF for input.<\/p>\n
It said it was \u201cpreferable for police to inform E Squadron (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) about all calls regarding explosives in the first instance\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cE Squadron can then triage the request and schedule a disposal as their operational tempo allows.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coroner Cunninghame commended the \u201cproactive approach\u201d taken by police.<\/p>\n
Her formal recommendation was that \u201ca reminder is issued to all New Zealand Police staff that when a member of the public has unused explosives and seeks advice on how to dispose of them, the NZDF E Squadron is contacted so that arrangements can be made for safe disposal\u201d.<\/p>\n
Woodford\u2019s family told the coroner they hoped that by telling his story, others would avoid facing the same dangerous situation.<\/p>\n
Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 20 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A fencing contractor for 50 years, Woodford had used Powergel explosives throughout his working life to blow up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274165,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,10791,12635,115,57023,12629,154708,154706,6179,7126,154707,57410,1866,2082,1874,36996,8241,5158,111,43,139,69,9716,13913,19098,15488,2846,13920,1316],"class_list":["post-274164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-ageing","tag-area","tag-calls","tag-clearer","tag-coroner","tag-detonate","tag-detonating","tag-died","tag-dies","tag-dispose","tag-explosives","tag-find","tag-for","tag-found","tag-guidance","tag-himself","tag-man","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-old","tag-remote","tag-safe","tag-southland","tag-them","tag-tried","tag-when"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}