Police will not investigate Gore toddler's death for a third time
Tuesday, 7 March 2023
A father’s plea to have the death of his son reinvestigated for a third time won’t happen, after police Commissioner Andrew Coster said he was unable to comment on the case because it was now with the coroner.
Paul Jones appealed for police to reinvestigate the case outside the Gore District Court on Monday, after the Gore District Council was sentenced over the fencing of its wastewater ponds.
He said the police’s decision not to re-investigate the death is ‘’another body blow.’’
“I’m getting used to it,’’ he said.
**READ MORE:
* Police conclude second investigation into Gore toddler's death
* Still no answers for grieving dad after his son dies in a wastewater pond
**
Jones’ son Lachlan was found dead in the council’s wastewater ponds in January 2019. He has always maintained that Lachlan did not wander off and drown in the ponds because there was no fluid found in his lungs, and no marks on his feet or legs, despite police concluding he had walked 1.2km from his mother’s home.
“I ask that from today onwards that this case be reopened by the police. I now ask Andrew Coster to come and front me…I now ask him, does a three-year-old matter to him?’’ he said outside the court on Monday.
“I want him to show some empathy, and front me, and get this reopened and reinvestigated by some police outside this area.’’
On Monday, Newsroom reported Dr Alexander Kolar, an independent expert forensic pathologist in the UK, had reviewed Lachlan’s organ tissues and other relevant post mortem documentation.
He said “It is not safe to provide drowning as a cause of death.”
“I am not certain on what basis [the pathologist] gave the cause of death as “drowning”. The lungs (including his histological examination of them) were described as normal. Further, the internal aspects of the head were not formally examined. From the report alone (accepting that there may be other non-documented data that [the pathologist] had to hand) it appears that the only evidence as to the cause of death was circumstantial rather than pathological,’’ he said.
On Tuesday, Stuff asked Coster whether police would reinvestigate the case, and whether police were confident in the findings of the second investigation into the death.
In a response, southern area commander Inspector Mike Bowman said the matter is now with the Coroner and as such police were not in a position to make any further comment at this time.
Police said Coster was also unable to comment.
Police announced in July 2020, that no charges would be laid in relation to Lachie’s death after its first investigation was completed.
After Jones and his lawyer wrote to Coster about police inadequacies in the initial investigation into the death, police said they would review the case in October 2020.
In November 2021, police said the review was concluded, and all matters would be referred to the coroner.