Two more adults tried to save Malachi. Oranga Tamariki did not act, family say

Thursday, 20 October 2022

Malachi Subecz's family speaks after his killer's sentencing in June 30, 2022.

Oranga Tamariki did not act on at least two more reports from different people – including a probation officer - about concerns for Malachi Subecz’s safety during the months the five-year-old was being tortured to death in a remote cabin, his family say.

Three members of Malachi's extended family say two representatives of OT visited them on October 11 to tell them concerns about Malachi’s safety in the care of murderer Michaela Barriball were reported to OT by two other parties.

Along with a notification from a family member previously reported by Stuff and investigated by the Ombudsman, the family say Malachi’s stepfather and a Corrections probation officer also called OT in the weeks after Malachi’s mother was jailed to report concerns for his wellbeing.

“I’m glad I know, but now I’m just angry,” said Malachi’s Aunty, Helen Menzies. “They said nothing was done and no-one from OT visited the child, no-one. We’re just in shock.

* Pics of abuse suffered by Malachi Subecz didn't reach police until after his murder

* Children's Minister Kelvin Davis wants answers from Oranga Tamariki over murdered 5-year-old

“Maybe if they had done something he could have been saved. We as the family went the legal route to try and save him and that didn’t work, and they’ve just shown us they still can’t be trusted.

“What's changed since all the other kids that have died?”

Malachi was four years old when he was led from court by his killer in June 2021.

Malachi Subecz, 5, died in Starship Hospital on November 12, 2021.

He died in Starship Hospital in his uncle Peter Menzie’s arms from blunt force injuries inflicted by Barriball, 27, on November 12, after days, weeks, and months of horrific torture including being slammed into walls, burned, starved, made to stand for hours, hit, deprived of medical attention, and physically and psychologically abused.

Menzies says they want consequences for the social workers involved and OT as an organisation. “There was supposed to be significant change after Nia Glassie and look how many died after her, look how many will still die after Malachi.

“It’s just another child, another child, and most of the time there’s Oranga Tamariki involvement. The whole thing needs to be torn down.

“What are they going to do, put another plaster over it? It’s a gaping wound.”

Oranga Tamariki declined to comment on whether it had received the two alerts, or answer any specific questions. It said its practice review would address serious concerns about its work and what it was doing to address them. The review was still being finalised, it said.

Stuff has previously revealed how Malachi family told OT and the Family Court of their grave concerns for Malachi’s safety in the week his mother was sent to prison, on 22 June 2021. This included providing photographs of suspected bruising on Malachi’s face.

“The biggest regret we have with all this is that we didn’t go uplift him ourselves, and why, why didn’t we do that? I know why, because we were going the legal route and we didn’t want a kidnapping charge, we didn’t want to stuff things up but it still goes around in my head,” Menzies said.

The Ombudsman reprimanded OT severely for a “litany of failures,” in not following up on the report of concern made by Malachi’s cousin, saying it failed to take the “bare minimum” of action including report the photographs to police, as per Child Protection Protocol.

Instead, OT called Malachi’s mother in prison, who said she had no concerns.

Two more reports

But Malachi’s stepfather was worried about his son, and notified OT in a phone call, Menzies says the family have been told.

It is understood the agency did not act on this conversation, which spanned four minutes before being transferred. It is not known where.

Malachi’s stepdad raised Malachi from when he was 3 months old. He and Malachi’s mother separated in mid-2020, but Malachi still called him dad, and he was a part of his life. He tried multiple times to see Malachi while in he was in Barriball’s care.

In an interview on the day of Barriball’s sentencing he told Stuff he had only managed to see him once, when Barriball brought him to Bayfair in Tauranga for a visit.

“I bought them some food, I bought him some raisins, he loved raisins,” he said. “I looked after my boy. Then I walked him out to the car, and he didn’t want to get in it, he just kept crying. Now I know why.”

The family thought Malachi was coming into their care until the day his mother went to prison, when they learned she had elected Barriball as his caregiver.

Stuff previously asked questions of Oranga Tamariki after Malachi’s family and legal experts questioned why Malachi was allowed to walk out of the courtroom with his killer.

At that time, in a statement, Oranga Tamariki transitional deputy chief executive for services for children and families Dee McManus-Emery, said that in general, a parent going to prison did not automatically give rise to any care or protection concerns if they made care arrangements for any dependents.

If police, Corrections or the criminal court had concerns about those arrangements, OT would expect to be notified.

But Stuff has been told by Malachi’s family that OT was notified about concerns for Malachi’s wellbeing in Barriball’s care, by Corrections, and still did not investigate. That Corrections staff member was so worried by this lack of action they took the report higher, but to no avail, Menzies says they were told.

When Stuff put this to Corrections, National Commissioner Ben Clark said: “We know Malachi’s death has been extremely distressing for those who knew him and his whānau, and we are continuing to support those impacted, including the staff member you mentioned.”

The independent Corrections Inspectorate was carrying out its own review of policies and procedures for when people are taken into custody and need to place children with a caregiver, “including how these were applied when Malachi’s mother came into prison,” he said. This would feed into the overall Review of Children’s Sector Response to Abuse, being led by Dame Karen Poutasi.

It wouldn’t be appropriate to provide any further detail while the reviews were underway, Corrections said.

Auckland University of Technology dean of law Associate Professor Khylee Quince said there needs to be a set of universal protocols around any parent who is likely to go to prison, screening around dependent children, and making sure there is an appropriate custody arrangement.

A family member also tried to alert Malachi’s daycare, Abbey’s Place Childcare in Tauranga, about the suspected abuse and for them to keep an eye on him. The daycare photographed extensive injuries in late September, but did not report them to police, leading to calls from child agencies for mandatory reporting.

The Ministry of Education has now revoked the daycare’s licence and reported two individuals to the Teachers Council.