{"id":319688,"date":"2026-03-08T21:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T21:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/319688\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T21:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T21:50:09","slug":"no-proof-locked-kia-hybrid-caused-hawkes-bay-mans-death-coroner-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/319688\/","title":{"rendered":"No proof locked Kia hybrid caused Hawke\u2019s Bay man\u2019s death, coroner finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
The court heard the last proof of life was a phone call Potter had made to a friend on the afternoon of December 30, 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis evidence does point towards the possibility that Mr Potter had become locked in his vehicle immediately before his death. The knocking sound heard by the neighbour over the night of December 30 may have been noises made by Mr Potter seeking to extract himself from the vehicle,\u201d the coroner said.<\/p>\n
Meteorological data shows New Year\u2019s Eve 2021 was one of the hottest days of the year in the Hawke\u2019s Bay.<\/p>\n
\u201cI accept that excessive heat and\/or stress may be relevant factors in his death,\u201d the coroner said.<\/p>\n
However, Coroner Schirnack said the evidence supporting this theory was inconclusive.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrawing the pathological and scene evidence together, I am not satisfied that heat and\/or anxiety, prompted by being locked inside his car, played a role in his death. While they remain distinct possibilities, he may have also experienced neither. He may have suffered the fatal cardiac event without perceiving that he was trapped and\/or becoming overwhelmed by heat,\u201d Schirnack said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the absence of a sufficiently clear link between his death and the vehicle\u2019s locked state, I take this line of inquiry no further.\u201d<\/p>\n
No formal comments or recommendations were issued as a result of the death.<\/p>\n
Clyde Potter’s sister Janice Rhodes with his Innovators Award from the NZ Restaurant Association and lifetime membership certificate from Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Market. Photo \/ Warren Buckland<\/p>\n
Potter\u2019s sister Janice Rhodes had earlier urged the coroner to investigate the death and said she was disappointed in the lack of a firm conclusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately it\u2019s now all done and dusted, so to speak,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She said she was unaware of her brother\u2019s coronary problems, and that Potter had not trusted GPs.<\/p>\n
Rhodes said it should be incumbent on car manufacturers and automotive dealers to draw attention to emergency exit procedures, particularly in modern vehicles where electrical problems or power loss can disable automatic locking and unlocking buttons.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where I feel an agent should do a bit more due diligence and point this fact out that this can happen with them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Kia Niro\u2019s 711-page manual advises drivers \u2013 on page 161 \u2013 in emergencies to fold down the rear seats and activate a manual boot release and then exit through the rear.<\/p>\n
Potter was born in Auckland in 1950, but became a Hawke\u2019s Bay fixture after moving to the region in 1972.<\/p>\n
He started The Chef\u2019s Garden, a 20ha farm that supplied a range of organic vegetables to local restaurants.<\/p>\n
Coroner Schirnack extended his condolences to Potter\u2019s family and community.<\/p>\n
Matt Nippert is an Auckland-based investigations reporter covering white-collar and transnational crimes and the intersection of politics and business. He has won more than a dozen awards for his journalism \u2013 including twice being named Reporter of the Year \u2013 and joined the Herald in 2014 after having spent the decade prior reporting from business newspapers and national magazines.<\/p>\n