Three years ago, Karnin “Tino” Petera drowned in floodwaters after he was trapped during a school caving trip.

Now, his whānau have returned to court carrying the same painful question that has shaped their grief.

Why did the Whangārei Boys’ High School trip to Abbey Caves proceed in such severe weather?

And that is what Coroner Alexander Ho would be examining during his inquest into the death of Petera on May 9, 2023.

The teen’s parents, Alicia Toki and Andre Petera, who took part in the earlier prosecution of the school board, were at the coronial inquest which began today in the Whangārei District Court.

Represented by lawyer Ellie Harrison, they were the first to give statements.

They remembered “Tino” as being funny, a keen diver and spiritually connected to Te Ao Māori.

Witnesses told to ‘dig deep’

Coroner Ho opened today’s hearing by acknowledging the loss of Petera, and the witnesses who would be called to give evidence.

He highlighted the three key witnesses as teachers Ben Windsor and Stevie Huurnick, and outdoor education contractor Luke Kirner, all of whom were involved in organising the trip.

Coroner Alexander Ho opened the hearing on Thursday at the Whangārei District Court. Photo / NZME

It will be the first time their account of the trip has been heard publicly since the tragedy.

The coroner said the inquest was not an exercise of imposing liability.

“I do not believe they intended that morning to put anyone in harm’s way,” he said.

“I encourage the witnesses to dig deep and be honest and thoughtful, remove the barriers so we can understand what went on. I don’t want to pretend it will be easy.

“They will be asked to relive probably awful events. I ask those witnesses whenever your turn is in the witness box, that you guard against a natural reaction of defensiveness.”

Coroner Ho said the inquest would examine how the risks of the excursion were identified, assessed and managed, both before the trip and once the group was inside the caves.

Other focuses would be around adequate information about the dangers of entering the caves and where the responsibility lies to update information.

“We need to all work together to try and prevent it from happening again,” Coroner Ho said.

“We gather to understand what happened to Karnin.”

The tragedy unfolded on May 9, 2023, after Whangārei had been experiencing significant downpours for days leading into the excursion.

The school had planned field trips to Abbey Caves, which featured three limestone caves, the first being more than 300m long.

It was a regular site for Northland school trips, with water flowing through all caves, which can get chest-deep in areas on days without rainfall.

Emergency services at Abbey Caves in Whangārei, where Karnin Petera lost his life. Photo / NZME

Rain had been heavy for days before the trip, with an orange weather warning issued on the morning Petera, a Year 11 student also known as “Tino”, entered the caves with 16 classmates.

Water rapidly rose and the students struggled to escape the caves. The force of the water sucked Petera down, trapping his foot between two rocks.

A search and rescue operation was launched, and multiple students had to be rescued from nearby rocks.

It would be another 10 hours until a team of plumbers with underwater cameras responded to the desperate search and helped locate Petera.

Tragically, he was found dead.

The school board was formally charged in May 2024 by WorkSafe with two counts of exposing people to the risk of harm or death.

It pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay reparations of more than $500,000 to the victims; specific amounts were suppressed.

‘He was always prepared’

In the whānau statement heard today, it said Petera’s parents were concerned about the weather on the day of the trip and had told their son that if it didn’t feel safe, don’t go in.

Toki said Tino was an organised person and the day before, he asked “100 times” whether it was still on.

“He was always prepared for the next day. As the afternoon progressed, he kept asking cos the weather was getting worse. He kept saying surely it’s not on eh,” Toki said.

“As the night progressed, his concern kept being about the weather.”

Toki said she told her son not to worry and that the teachers would ensure they were safe.

She emailed the school the night before and got a response the following morning advising the trip was still on, despite it raining throughout the night.

Andre Petera, Alicia Toki with son Jordan and their beloved Karnin, known as Tino, who died in the Abbey Caves tragedy. Photo / Jodi Bryant

At 8.39am, Andre Petera dropped their dog off at doggy day care and noticed that the creek was flooding and had broken its banks.

Both parents called the school by 9am, as the weather had intensified, but got no response.

Toki and Petera said the communication with the school was poor from the outset and as the tragedy unfolded, they had to find out through social media.

Toki raced to the caves and was given conflicting information by the police.

“He asked if they had all of them [students], the first officer said ‘yes’, the second said ‘I can’t tell you’.”

Other concerned parents gathered and were told to return to the school to collect their children but when Toki arrived, principal Karen Smith asked her to come inside.

“Whatever you’ve got to say you can say it here,” Toki said to Smith outside the school offices.

“We haven’t been able to locate your son,” Smith told her.

Toki and Andre Petera returned to the caves and forced their way through the barriers and were told the school would send a representative.

“I told the police if the principal comes up here, it’s going to get ugly,” Toki said.

Toki said the school posted to Facebook that it was supporting the whānau.

However, she said in evidence that neither they nor other parents heard anything from the school and they found out all information through social media.

Petera’s body was located around 10pm.

Toki hoped the inquest would result in the Ministry of Education strengthening its health and safety guidelines for schools.

She said Whangārei Boys’ High School needed to improve health and safety across the entire campus, particularly its communication systems, which she described as inadequate during the incident.

The whānau also called for Abbey Caves to be closed to the public, and they were concerned the council still promoted the site to tourists.

She urged authorities to factor in a wider margin of error when assessing weather‑related risks and that WorkSafe charges held more accountability.

“We hope the inquest can support our journey. We trusted our son would be safe at school. We never want any other family to be in the same position as us.”

The inquest is expected to take seven days.

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.