Judge cuts injury fine to $30,000

Cardrona Ski Resort's appeal against its conviction and sentence of paying almost $60,000 for an injury on the skifield has been dismissed by Justice Graham Pankhurst in the High Court at Invercargill.

However, the company's fine has been reduced to $30,000.

The company was convicted at the Queenstown District Court in May for failing to take all practicable steps to ensure that a skier was not harmed on its skifield.

It was fined $43,000 by Judge Paul Keller and ordered to pay $16,555 to Australian resident Rosemary Berry.

Ms Berry, semi-retired, a tourist from Queensland, was skiing across the base area on September 2, 2007, and tripped over a steel mesh track that was temporarily placed in the snow for the Cardrona Games, due to start that afternoon.

Ms Berry tripped as her ski hit the track.

She broke her left arm and shoulder, plus received a sore, swollen and severely bruised left elbow and right knee.

Cardrona Ski Resort counsel Paul Radich, of Wellington, lodged the appeal against the conviction and sentence in July.

Justice Pankhurst heard the appeal on July 28 and reserved his decision until this month.

In his decision dismissing the appeal against the conviction, he said the company had a "gap in protection strategy" arising from employee error.

"The steel mesh sections posed a significant hazard to an unsuspecting skier and the risk was one which could have been easily guarded against," he said.

He allowed the appeal against the sentence and reduced the fine from $43,000 to $30,000 because of "low culpability".

Reparation was unchanged.