A mechanic facing a serious charge over a New Year tourist bus crash on the Otira Gorge has pleaded not guilty and elected trial by jury.
Sixty-eight-year-old James Henry Coakley, of Ohoka, entered his plea before a registrar at the Christchurch District Court and was remanded for a Crown case review hearing on September 12.
A case review is the next step on the path to a jury trial for Coakley on the charge that on or before December 31, 2015, at Otira, he injured people “in circumstances where if death had been caused he would have been guilty of manslaughter”.
The bus was operated by Travlon and the police will allege that Coakley had been contracted to conduct maintenance.
It was carrying 31 Chinese tourists on December 31 when the brakes allegedly failed as it travelled down the gorge.
The bus went out of control and collided with a car climbing the gorge, containing three people visiting from Switzerland. The bus then overturned and slid into a roadside barrier which brought it to a stop
Thirteen people were injured, receiving fractures and internal injuries. All three members of the Swiss family received moderate to serious injuries.
When police announced in May that a charge had been laid, they said the man charged was associated with the maintenance of the bus.
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