Tree blamed for death [Archive]

Finn

27th November 2007, 16:50

Only in NZ...

- Jeremy Cowan, 24, of Gore, was one of eight people in a white Ford Falcon.

- Gore parks and recreation manager Ian Soper said the axe attack had caused reasonably significant damage to the tree but it was not life-threatening. Fuck, thank god for that! We wouldn't want a tree to die. That would be a tradegy.

- The men told police they were upset over the death of their friend and blamed the tree. Naughty tree.

- There was no indication at the scene of the vehicle rolling, she said. What's that got to do with it?

Swoop

27th November 2007, 17:00

Trees are a hazard to lightning and must be removed.

SlashWylde

27th November 2007, 17:17

I'm sorry, are we living in the 21st century or the 16th century?!

In one part of the country we've got seriously deluded people drowning one of their relatives and gouging chunks out of the corneas of another in an attempt to exorcise evil spirits. In another part we've got munters wanting to chop down a healthy stationary tree because it "killed their friend".

What is wrong with these people!!!?

Timber020

27th November 2007, 18:36

If I crash my bike speeding while drunk and get scuffed up on the road I hope my mates take to the road to avenge my wounds.
In the US, the second most likely thing to kill you while driving, second only to other cars, are trees.

That oaks probably worth over 30 grand, bill the dumbasses with the axes. Natural selection at work guys, ford stationwagons are the weakest link.

Usarka

27th November 2007, 18:40

Attacking the tree i can understand, thats just coping with grief and loss.

but the part i cant handle is....Gore. i mean, for fucks sake.....

yungatart

27th November 2007, 19:00

Blame the poor innocent tree!
Maybe it didn't get enough hugs when it was a young sapling?
It would be just like the tree hugging brigade to ignore the psychopathic tree, wouldn't it?

Timber020

27th November 2007, 19:38

Apparently my business is insured for 2 million dollars unless the tree is effected by Y2K or is an act of terrorism. Best waterboard the oak, find out if its a member of alquada.

Hitcher

27th November 2007, 19:44

Killer trees? Next thing they'll be roaming around in gangs, called forests. And people won't be able to see the wood for them. Evel (sic) bastards!

Southern_man

27th November 2007, 20:51

I can't believe this,just because this guy was from Gore you instantly think the worst of him.Yes I am from Gore myself and seeing this sort of crap really pisses me off how u slag it off,u think you're better than us for some reason?? Yea this guy was in a wagon,theres a thing called a bench seat so u can easily fit more than the usual 5 people in.If it was one of your mates that died I can garuantee that if you were as drunk as they were you would go out and do something,like try and cut the tree down.If this was a boy racer there wouldnt be so much crap about it,but just cos they were "bogans" it means you can mock them.The guy died,let him rest in peace!

Gore_Gal

27th November 2007, 21:01

Dadpole

27th November 2007, 21:06

Could have used the axe on the driver I suppose.

"Axeman - spare that tree"

Southern_man

27th November 2007, 21:17

BIGBOSSMAN

27th November 2007, 21:20

Don't you guys think it's pretty low taking the piss out of this subject?

A young and much respected person has lost their life in this accident and obviously his friends are pretty grief stricken right about now.

Of course the tree is not at fault, but come on guys give these people a break they had witnessed their mate losing his life early that day, sorry but i am failing to see where this become's funny?

Sorry to have offended you Gore Gal, but this is as dumb as bystanders attacking ambo's trying to help their injured relatives at a crash scene.
Sort of reminds me of the scene from Once Were Warriors where Jake the Muss tried to hack down the tree his daughter hung herself from.
And there's the similarity - it wasn't the trees fault.
And 8 people in a car?
Of course it's not fair the young guy lost his life, but it seems no amount of shock public service TV advertising can instil common sense among some of us.

Gore_Gal

27th November 2007, 21:31

There were 7 people in the car as they printed on monday not 8 as printed today. Also car was falcon station wagon with a bench seat, three in front easily 4 in the back ok should have only been three in the back due to number of avaliable seat belts. I take your point and the similarities you have made but accidents do happen and these people are grieving.

Its a pretty small and tight community down here and for something like this to happen in our main street is quite devastating.

jafar

27th November 2007, 21:35

Dude the driver was a 16 year old girl who was sober contrary to fact that everyone thinks that we all drink drive in Gore,you don't think shes having a tough enough time dealing with this,i'm still not seeing the funny side to this....mocking something in which someone died....What the hell??

As this happened in the main street it is safe to assume that it is a 50k area.
This amount of damage does not happen in a 50 k crash .
To achieve this result they would have had to be absolutely flying !!

Quote from stuff :
Clothing and debris from the vehicle was strewn for about 100m on both sides of the road.

Detective Sergeant Cynthia Fairley, of the Gore police, said police believed that after hitting the tree the car was airborne for a short distance while spinning 180 degrees to face the opposite direction.

Condolances to the family of Jeremy Cowan, R.I.P

scumdog

27th November 2007, 21:56

Don't you guys think it's pretty low taking the piss out of this subject?

A young and much respected person has lost their life in this accident and obviously his friends are pretty grief stricken right about now.

Of course the tree is not at fault, but come on guys give these people a break they had witnessed their mate losing his life early that day, sorry but i am failing to see where this become's funny?

I understand the poor dead guy was actually quite a reasonable guy.

A shame the dingaling driving didn't think of that before she got involved in trying to take out a tree due to her her inept driving.

And as for attacking the tree?

It smacks of 'primitive race" action, sheesh, why didn't they attack the station wagon - or even more pertinent, the driver? THEY caused the crash more than the tree.

Disco Dan

27th November 2007, 22:11

I understand the poor dead guy was actually quite a reasonable guy.

A shame the dingaling driving didn't think of that before she got involved in trying to take out a tree due to her her inept driving.

And as for attacking the tree?

It smacks of 'primitive race" action, sheesh, why didn't they attack the station wagon - or even more pertinent, the driver? THEY caused the crash more than the tree.

Carefull... stationwagons may get banned. Or worse still... "drivers" we'll be replaced with women.

Or worse still... trees. All over the country trees will be cut down and put in jail as a preventative measure.

Grief is right up there with madness and insanity - now people (in Gore) will think trees are right up there with axe murderers and kiddy fiddlers.

Sad world eh?

Timber020

27th November 2007, 22:54

Classic song from years gone by "Tie a white falcon around the old oak tree"

Big hit now in Gore.:buggerd:

mstriumph

27th November 2007, 23:11

..............In another part we've got munters wanting to chop down a healthy stationary tree because it "killed their friend".

........ - coulda been a stationery tree ifen it had enveloped him :dodge:

kerfufflez

28th November 2007, 00:07

- coulda been a stationery tree ifen it had enveloped him :dodge:

That is so bad......:2thumbsup

Hitcher

28th November 2007, 08:05

it's great entertainment to stand on the main street of Gore of a Friday evening and watch all these 1970s cars cruising the streets, laden with the Hokonui's youngest and finest. A lot of these vehicles are absolute minters -- Falcons, Holden Kingswoods and Chrysler Valiants -- probably first registered by the grandparents of the current drivers circa 1972. Observing this parade, one feels a bit like Marty McFly...

Southern_man

28th November 2007, 17:10

Classic song from years gone by "Tie a white falcon around the old oak tree"

Big hit now in Gore.:buggerd:

That's pretty sick that you actually trying to make a joke about an accident in which someone died in.As i've already said,have some respect mate

SouthlandRyda

6th August 2008, 18:50

Hey, Jerm was a good mate of mine, I was with him in the pub all night... This is fucked up! So what his mates hit the tree, fuck they just saw thier best mate go from laughing an joking to dieing in front of them an they are helpless.... people are killed everyday for worse things, young people do dumb shit thats how we live and learn. GROW THEY FUCK UP and have some respect!!!!!!!!! R.I.P Jerm your the man brutha!

Patar

6th August 2008, 23:15

Alcohol + Speed + Car resulting in death.
So, what's new?

I wouldn't go so far as to say they were asking for it, but had it been a friend of mine under the same circumstances I would have been pissed off at the driver for killing my friend, or my friend for being dumb enough to get in the car.
In the end it's peoples own responsibility to use the few active braincells they do have, if they don't, their grave was probably dug a long time ago.

On a side note, blaming and attacking a tree for the death of your friend is stupid and I can see it happening anywhere, society seems to be getting dumber by the day.

SouthlandRyda

7th August 2008, 12:27

Yea blaming the tree is stupid, but taking the piss is too! Im not condoling that action. There was a lot more to that crash than you people see or know. Im just fucked off at the lack of respect towards my dead friend and the way he died!! If people wanna take the shit outta gore then go hard but not at this expence!

firefighter

7th August 2008, 13:28

A vehicle that size getting airbourne in a 50km area..........hmmmmmm, well I wonder if the young tart was speeding....hmmmm, in an overloaded car, of that age, I hope they were envisioning the tree as being the driver.....i mean, unless the tree is an 'ent' they are truely mistaking the identity of the murderer.

oh yeah and those of you taking offence... well that is the way of the world, I think you'll find people aren't laughing or mocking the death- they are having a dig at the actions taken afterwards, you see I know about having to have a dark sense of humour, if I took this sort of thing too seriously i'd have retired after a couple of days at work.

avgas

7th August 2008, 13:31

shit - lucky they didnt hit a person walking on the footpath.
if the poor vic survived the crash then he/she would have been hacked up anyway.

GurlRacer

7th August 2008, 18:15

Arguing between jokers and non-jokers on this subject wont help the situation. You have to remember that everytime some gets hurt or dies in an accident, there is someone, somewhere out there whom is grieving. Someone's son, brother, uncle, Dad.

While I understand that what happend with my Dad was a PURE ACCIDENT, I still have to blame the bridge. The SCU has stated that speed was not a factor, nor was his safety. My Dad was doing everything right, and still he crashed, and in the end, was killed because of the injuries sustained by a rock. I went to the crash site, but my first reaction was not "Take down the bridge" or "move the rocks". While I understand they were upset and angry at the tree, their approach was something in desperation. You want to blame something, someone, anything for means of a reason for death. Of course, reasons in these times are not exactly... well, people wont understand the lines of thinking if they haven't been through the same thing. Over time, they will come to understand why they can't just hack a tree down. But at the moment, these people are in grief.. and one day in the future, they will be able to sit down with all of you, have a beer and joke about it.

RIP dude. You will be missed.

dipshit

7th August 2008, 20:06

GROW THEY FUCK UP and have some respect!!!!!!!!! R.I.P Jerm your the man brutha!

You're just seeing the double standard some people here on KB have. Your friend was killed in a "cage" accident so therefore they will have no problem making crude and sadistic jokes.

If however your friend hit the tree while riding a motorbike... then rest assured it would have been the tree that killed him. Not his fault. There would be calls for council to remove the tree and/or a protest ride for the removal of the tree.

McJim

7th August 2008, 20:26

Having read through this thread with some care I have to note that no one has impugned the deceased at all (he was an unfortunate passenger as far as I'm aware). A few comments have been made at the expense of the fellas that took an axe to the tree (which everyone agrees wasn't an appropriate response) and there have been a couple of remarks passed in the direction of Gore (which, while not really fair isn't in fact anything new - listen to The Edge most mornings and you will hear a few derogatory remarks passed about Gore). So the question is why have we decided to open this particular can of worms all over again?

Oh, and just for the record, if you want to take the piss out of Southland just make sure that you can actually prove that you've been here first!:Pokey: