Another report that's been written about the death of a Canterbury University student whose body lay unnoticed for weeks has found the cause of death will "never be known".
Commerce student Mason Drake Pendrous, 19, was found dead in his room at the Sonoda Christchurch Campus in 2019, after his family and friends became concerned that they could not get in touch with him.
Coroner S P Johnson ruled he died between August 26 and September 10, but that it is “not possible to make any conclusive determination as to the manner and circumstances of Mason’s death”.
He said there was no evidence that checks would have prevented Mason’s death, because “we do not know how he died: if his death was sudden or he was ill before he died”.
There was no evidence Mason ended his own life.
“The circumstances of Mason’s death are largely unknown and unable to be determined. I acknowledge how distressing this must be for those who were close to Mason.
“As such, this is not a case where I am in a position to make any recommendations in order to prevent further such deaths occurring in the future,” said Johnson.
The death triggered several high level reviews and a law change to protect university students living in student accommodation.
S P Johnson hoped that these strengthened requirements remain in the finalised version of the law change, which is yet to be released, but said no clear link can be drawn between the pastoral case Mason received (or the lack of it) and his death.
“Such check would undoubtedly have found his body sooner, but there is no evidence that they would have prevented his death.
“I hope it is of some comfort to Mason’s family and friends that as a result of the widespread public concern at his death and particularly the delay in his discovery, a number of long-term changes have been implemented to improve the pastoral care of all tertiary student in New Zealand.”
He said that he’d like to think that Mason’s death and the Covid-19 pandemic since has “made us all more aware of the need to check on each other and be less inclined to think it would be an intrusion to do so”.
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