Canty University student's fatal fall through a window remains a mystery - coroner

The coroner says it is still a mystery what caused a Canterbury University student to crash through his bedroom window resulting in a fatal wound.

Sam Finnemore, who was 19, died in November 2022, after being found lying in the road outside his Riccarton flat.

On the night he died one of Finnemore's flatmates, who was up watching YouTube, heard a crash at 3.45am.

Thinking someone had thrown a rubbish bin at a car the flatmate went outside, and saw someone lying in the road outside their house.

The flatmate went to assist the person and realised it was Finnemore.

The flatmate sought help from inside and rang 111, and other passersby also came to help.

One of the flatmates applied pressure to a large wound on Finnemore's chest which was bleeding profusely. He also had a gash to his right knee and upper left arm.

Emergency services arrived after and he was taken to hospital, but was confirmed as deceased upon arrival.

Acne drug an unlikely factor

In her findings released on Friday Coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale said the central mystery to what caused Finnemore, who was happy, well and alone in his bedroom, to awaken suddenly and be lethally propelled through his window had not been able to be answered.

She said his use of acne drug Roaccutane (isotretinoin) had been looked at. Patients taking Roaccutane are given an information sheet which mentions depression as a potential side effect, and advises people to let their doctor know if they have unusual behaviour or thoughts.

Coroner Borrowdale said Finnemore had being taking the drug on and off for two years without any problems, and she said it was very unlikely the drug played a role in his death.

There was also evidence he was an infrequent user of MDMA or ecstasy, and had done so a bit over a week before his death.

Coroner Borrowdale said Finnemore had been studying and acting normally before he headed to bed on the night he died, and it was unlikely he would have been experiencing acute onset side-effects from the drugs at that late stage.

She said sleep walking and night terrors had also been mentioned and looked into, but appear improbable as Finnemore had no known history of either.

Lack of safety glass

Evidence from CCTV video footage from the street showed Finnemore at 3.47am as he "quickly ran north along the footpath for about 50m before suddenly collapsing".

The police investigation concluded that he had awoken, stepped out of his bed on the right side, and had fallen through the glass bay window of his bedroom. The police said he lay momentarily on the lawn in front of his window before standing up and running onto and along the footpath of Matipo St.

He was found within two minutes and help summoned.

Coroner Borrowdale said what was clear was that Finnemore was critically wounded by the time he fell onto the front lawn, and no medical interventions could realistically have avoided his tragic death.

She said one recommendation was for the home-owning public of New Zealand.

The house he lived in was a 1920s bungalow with single glazing.

Coroner Borrowdale said if the window Borrowdale came into contact with had been safety glass his injuries would not have been so extensive, and may not have been lethal.

She said it was not practical to recommend the replacement of all such windows and there was no evidence to suggest there was a high risk of similar fatalities, but older style window glass was much more likely to fracture and injuries would therefore be more likely to be serious.

Adored son

Coroner Borrowdale said Finnemore was an adored son, family member, student and friend to many.

He was described as kind-hearted, generous, insightful, happy, and grounded. He was also a gifted and high-achieving snowboarder, especially in freestyle snowboarding, and had won several national titles.

Coroner Borrowdale said he was the precious only child of Lisa and Cameron Finnemore of Auckland, and had been conceived by IVF. He was born in London in 2002, with the family moving to New Zealand when Sam was a young child.

The coroner said she offered her sincere condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.