Rope used in fatal jump 'too long'

Police say Massey University student Catherine Peters was allowed to bridge swing with a rope longer than the fall that killed her, a court has been told.

The man accused of her manslaughter, Alistair Ross McWhannell, also revealed in a police interview that he could not remember attaching Ms Peters' rope to the bridge before she jumped.

The trial of McWhannell, 47, entered its fifth day in the High Court at Palmerston North yesterday.

The Crag Adventures director is accused of failing to ensure his bridge-swing operation was safe when Ms Peters, 18, fell about 20 metres to her death at the Ballance Bridge, near Woodville, on March 7 last year.

Detective Constable Brett Humphrey, of Whanganui, told the court that the rope used by Ms Peters was 19.8m but the distance from the rigging to the ground was only 19.5m.

"Regardless of whether Catherine was tied on or not ... she was going to hit the ground anyway," he said. The rope had two sets of markings on it, used to identify the safe height for bridge-swinging, Mr Humphrey said.

At best, the clearance would have been 6.2m and at worst 2.09m, which meant it was likely the rope was not tied off at either set of markings, he said.

But in cross-examination by defence lawyer Bruce Squire, QC, Mr Humphrey said his measurements did not allow for the "downward slope" of the ground underneath the bridge.

Mr Humphrey also read out the transcript of an interview McWhannell gave to police, in which he said he could not remember going through the safety procedure before Ms Peters' jump.

"The only thing I can remember about Catherine's jump was that she was clipped in [to the harness] and the rope had tension," McWhannell said in the transcript.

He also said the equipment was in good condition and there was no way it contributed to the incident.

He agreed "a major departure from normal procedure" would have been needed for the safety system to fail.

The court also heard from Belgian student Eric De Bast, who said he saw the rigging soon after Ms Peters hit the ground.

"There was no knot. The ropes were just passing through the belay device and not attached ... to my knowledge, it was like that before [Catherine jumped]."

The trial continues today.

- © Fairfax NZ News