{"id":556931,"date":"2026-08-03T02:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T02:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/556931\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T02:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T02:04:10","slug":"queenstown-inquest-examines-jesse-samuels-haast-holiday-home-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/556931\/","title":{"rendered":"Queenstown inquest examines Jesse Samuel\u2019s Haast holiday-home death"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHe was like a best friend to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesse died in a gas-heated shower at his family\u2019s holiday home in Haast on October 10, 2018.<\/p>\n

Previous court proceedings heard that an autopsy found Jesse\u2019s blood was 59% saturated with carbon monoxide after the gas from the water heater had built up in the small, unventilated bathroom unit.<\/p>\n

He had been showering in the outdoor bathroom, opposite the kitchen where Walker was cooking dinner.<\/p>\n

He chose to shower in the outdoor bathroom because the water pressure was stronger than that in the indoor bathroom.<\/p>\n

Walker told the inquest her son was a talented sportsperson and she believed his dedication would have carried him far.<\/p>\n

She said he was always helping and coaching his younger brothers, and adored his little sister.<\/p>\n

Walker said the inquest would \u201cnot give me my life back\u201d but hoped it would mean those involved would be held accountable and that changes would be made.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe miss him dearly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inquest would investigate the circumstances of Jesse\u2019s death, whether and how the original gas water heater contributed to it, and whether industry training and occupational regulation played a role.<\/p>\n

\"JesseJesse Samuel (second left) and siblings Codie Samuel, McKenzie Claridge and Zane Samuel. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

In her opening address, Coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale said Jesse was a \u201chappy, well, active and cherished\u201d boy when he died.<\/p>\n

She acknowledged the length of time between his death and the beginning of the inquest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am conscious Jesse would now be a young man,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesse is the reason we are here and the motivating force behind this inquiry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coroner said carbon monoxide was colourless, odourless, and tasteless.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesse would not have known he was in any danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her primary focus was to determine whether a similar tragedy could be prevented from happening to someone else, she said.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Central Plumbing Limited, which trades as Laser Plumbing Alexandra, and its director, Michael Cartwright, pleaded guilty to charges<\/a> laid under the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Act 2006 in relation to the incident.<\/p>\n

They were ordered to pay $70,000 to the family, while Cartwright was fined $19,250 and his company was fined $104,500.<\/p>\n

Those court proceedings heard that in 2016, the family had engaged Central Plumbing Limited to install a gas water heater in a transportable bathroom unit, which was then transported and installed at the holiday home.<\/p>\n

There was a warning label on the unit, stating it could not be installed in a bathroom, and the need for ventilation was not discussed with the family, the proceedings heard.<\/p>\n

The heater was damaged in 2017 after surrounding pipework froze during the winter. In September 2018, a family member replaced the heater with the same model in the same place.<\/p>\n

Jesse died a month later.<\/p>\n

A WorkSafe investigation found the replacement water heater was not faulty, and the installation of a replacement unit did not materially alter the danger.<\/p>\n

Both Cartwright and WorkSafe are expected to provide evidence at the inquest throughout the week.<\/p>\n

Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.<\/p>\n

Join NZ Herald\u2019s Open Justice team for Case by Case<\/a>, a video and podcast series examining the disputes and decisions making headlines across New Zealand. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cHe was like a best friend to me.\u201d Jesse died in a gas-heated shower at his family\u2019s holiday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[634,168660,273860,273861,13999,2537,111,139,69,20930,22640,213],"class_list":["post-556931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-death","tag-examines","tag-haast","tag-holidayhome","tag-inquest","tag-jesse","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-queenstown","tag-samuels","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556931","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=556931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}