Tree branch death of Patiya Schreiber: Bendigo Council cleared by inquest
IN one moment Kristy Thomson’s whole world changed.
She suddenly found herself going through life with serious spinal injuries and no daughter.
December 30 2013 is etched in Ms Thomson’s memory as the day she lost four-year-old Patiya May Schreiber in an incident that an inquest has found could have been preventable.
It was just five days after Christmas when the mother and daughter visited Cascades water feature in Bendigo’s Rosalind Park.
They passed under a gum tree as many had before. As they were below its limbs, Ms Thomson heard a loud crack but when she looked up she didn’t see anything threatening.
She heard the loud crack again and this time a large branch fell from the tree, seriously injuring her and killing her daughter.
Slater and Gordon public liability national practice group leader, Barrie Woollacott, represented Ms Thomson at the inquest at the Coroners Court this week.
He said the death of Patiya May, who died from head injuries, had taken an enormous toll on Ms Thomson and her family.
“Their lives have not been the same since,” he said.
“Kristy Thomson suffered life-changing injuries and continues to be traumatised by the events that caused her daughter’s death.”
Ms Thomson is now considering her legal options in light of coroner Phillip Byrne’s findings.
An inspection on the tree that killed Patiya May was conducted by Bendigo council’s inspections arborist Daniel McWilliam just three months prior to the tragic death.
The coroner revealed Mr McWilliam spent “three to four” minutes walking around the base of the tree looking for risks.
He wrote in a report “no obvious major structural faults were identified”.
His intention was to go back and reinspect the tree 12 months later.
The tree had been standing without having caused any damage for about 90 years, but Mr Byrne said the disaster couldn’t be labelled as “an act of God”.
An expert, who provided evidence to the court, said a ground inspection wasn’t likely to determine what damage the tree could cause.
He said he would have wanted to look at the tree from above.
Two other experts who also gave evidence believed the tree warranted a more extensive inspection because of fork stems jutting out from the trunk.
Mr Byrne said removal of the tree would have eliminated the risk of the branch falling.
He said Mr McWilliam also agreed that pruning would have reduced the weight at the end of the limb and may well have reduced the likelihood of the incident.
The experts said drones with good resolution cameras could be used by councils for low cost above-ground tree inspections.
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