Shinri Minatoya in court over drowning death of students

One of the two teachers at Lake McKenzie on the tragic day two students drowned has faced court on the Fraser Coast.

Lake McKenzie on K’gari, where two Japanese students drowned.

The teacher of two Japanese students who drowned in Lake McKenzie on K’gari in 2019 has faced court.

Shinri Minatoya, of Yokohama, appeared in Hervey Bay Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with one failing to comply with health and safety duty.

On Saturday, March 30, 2019, students Taiki Mizuno and Shinnosuke Kimura, from Japan’s Kanagawa University High School, were among a group of 15 students and two teachers visiting Lake McKenzie as a part of their student exchange program.

Allowed to swim unsupervised in the lake, which goes to depths of 9m and drops off significantly close to the shoreline, the boys drowned and their bodies were discovered by police divers the next morning.

The teacher of two Japanese students who drowned in Lake McKenzie on K’gari in 2019 has faced court.

Brisbane-based school study tour company Huckleberry Australia was fined $250,000 for breaching it duty of care responsibilities.

The company appealed the sentence, arguing a fine of $80,000 to $100,000 be more appropriate, but the penalty was upheld in Brisbane District Court on November 26 by Judge Leanne Clare.

Mr Minatoya was one of two teachers at Lake Mckenzie on the fateful day and is alleged by The Office of the Workplace Health and Safety prosecutor to have failed his health and safety duty by exposing the students to the risk of serious injury and death.

The matter was adjourned by magistrate Trinity McGarvie until February 26, 2024.

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Peter Samuel Hecker pleaded guilty to wilful damage, possessing dangerous drugs

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