A bridge-swing organiser accused of the manslaughter of a Massey University student who fell to her death last year was very careful when it came to safety, a Palmerston North court has been told.
Catherine Peters, an 18-year-old first-year veterinary student, plunged about 20 metres on to rocks below the Ballance Bridge in the Manawatu Gorge, near Woodville, while bridge-swinging with the Massey Alpine Club on March 7.
A rope meant to keep her secure was said to be too long, and she died of her injuries in hospital hours later.
Crag Adventures director Alastair Ross McWhannell, who had sole responsibility for the activity, has pleaded not guilty to her manslaughter and is on trial in the High Court at Palmerston North.
Crown witness Saftwan Zairal, a former rock climbing instructor with the alpine club, today told the trial he and his friend Fionn Claydon had helped fit harnesses on the students participating in the swing on March 7.
Mr Zairal said he had helped out with the event in both 2007 and 2008, and agreed to again last year after McWhannell said he needed more people.
When asked about how McWhannell ran the swing, Mr Zairal said he was "very careful about safety aspects".
McWhannell would check the harnesses and would check the work other people helping to run the event were doing.
"I thought it was a very well constructed rig and everything was safe about it," Mr Zairal said.
He agreed he told police the swing was "structured and organised".
Mr Claydon, another witness for the crown, said the system was "almost infallible" and the only thing that could go wrong was "human error".
The trial is set down for three weeks.
