Two Christchurch companies have been fined $270,000 and ordered to pay $130,000 in reparation after a trailer came off a work van and smashed into another vehicle, killing an Akaroa boat captain. 

Julian Bruins Yates, 52, a skipper for Black Cat Cruises, died on October 23 2020 in a three-vehicle crash on Weka Pass Rd in Hurunui. 

On Tuesday Ultimate Design and Renovation Limited (UDR), which owned the A-frame trailer and tow vehicle and its operational arm ABC Aluminium Limited were sentenced in the Christchurch District Court. 

Both businesses were charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act for health and safety failures. 

A WorkSafe investigation found the locking handle on the trailer was not engaged, and the trailer’s safety chain was not connected to the vehicle. 

“These are routine checks that must be done when towing a trailer. If not, the consequences can be catastrophic,” said WorkSafe’s head of specialist interventions, Dr Catherine Gardner. 

Both companies did not have systems to ensure vehicles were kept in good working order, or systems to ensure drivers visually checked their vehicles before use. 

WorkSafe also found staff had inadequate information, training, instruction, supervision, and experience to safely use the company vehicles and trailers. 

“It’s not enough to just have your workers sign a vehicle policy. Businesses need to ensure drivers are competent to safely use a vehicle, especially one that is being towed,” says Gardner. 

“Julian Bruins Yates was a father of two who lost his life through no fault of his own. Any business with a vehicle fleet should heed the lessons of this tragedy because it was entirely preventable.” 

Black Cat Cruises chief executive Paul Milligan told the Herald after the tragedy his staff had been left devastated. 

“Julian was a colourful character, he had been a part of the Black Cat team for 10 years.” 

Yates was the “face and voice” of the company’s Akaroa Harbour cruise since 2011. Being out on the water in nature was “his happy place”, said Milligan. 

He estimated about 100,000 guests over the past decade had been on a cruise with Yates. 

"He was definitely a big personality and someone who will be dearly missed," said Milligan. 

“Akaroa is a small town and Julian had involvement with a lot of things and the whole community is feeling it.” 

Sam Sherwood is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers crime. He is a senior journalist who joined the Herald in 2022, and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.