Police conclude second investigation into Gore toddler's death
Friday, 12 November 2021
A second police investigation into the death of a Gore toddler has been concluded.
Three-year-old Lachie Jones was found dead in the Gore District Council’s oxidation ponds on January 29, 2019.
At the time, police concluded that Lachie, who was wearing a high-vis vest, a police hat and had a full nappy, had wandered from his mother’s home nearby and drowned.
In October 2020, police announced they would review the case, after Lachie’s father Paul Jones and his lawyer wrote to Police Commissioner Andrew Coster asking for the case to be reopened.
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**
In a statement on Friday, a police spokesperson said the reinvestigation into the death of Lachlan Jones by police had concluded.
However, no detail of the outcome had been provided to Stuff.
“Lachlan's family has been advised of this and the matter has been referred back to the coroner.”
As this is now a coroner's matter, police will not be able to comment any further at this time, the spokesperson said.
Jones attended a meeting with police on Thursday and said he was heartbroken to be told police had concluded the review and said he was told the police position was the same.
Jones said he still believes his son did not drown in the oxidation ponds.
The funeral directors who took care of Lachie provided a letter to police saying they noticed he was in perfect condition, with no visible markings on his legs or feet that they could see, despite police concluding he had walked so far.
“They [police] still can’t tell me how my son walked 1.2km, in bare feet, down a gravel road, over a fence and through scrub and thistles and sheep poo without getting a mark on his feet or legs. Because that’s the conclusion they’ve come to,’’ Jones said.
He said he would push for a coronial hearing into his son's death.
Jones has laid a complaint with the Independent Police Conduct Authority over the initial investigation into the death, and written to the coroner investigating the case.
In March 2020 Worksafe charged the Gore District Council under the Health and Safety at Work Act in relation to Lachie’s death.
On Friday, a Worksafe spokesperson said they would not comment on whether the charges would remain active until next week.
The council fenced the ponds in November 2019.