Lachie Jones inquest: Gore's former top cop says ‘assumptions were made’

Thursday, 9 May 2024

Police start to give witness evidence at Lachie Jones inquest

The police officer who was in charge of the investigation into Lachie Jones’ death says police made assumptions about the night he died, and that formed how the rest of the investigation continued.

Senior Sergeant Cynthia Fairley gave evidence at an inquest for Lachie, who was three years old when he was found dead late on the evening of January 29, 2019, face up in a council oxidation pond near his home.

In response to questioning from Simon Mount KC, who is assisting Coroner Alexander Ho, Fairley admitted that on the night Lachie died the list of what police didn’t know about the case was longer than what they did know, but she believed at the time that police were doing a good job.

Fairley had been told a witness had seen Lachie on the corner of Salford St and Grasslands Rd, but in hindsight she did not know that the witness was a teenager, how long they had seen him for or whether it was Lachie.

Gore Police Senior Sergeant Cynthia Fairley in the witness stand at the Invercargill Courthouse on Thursday for week two of the coronial inquest into the death of Lachie Jones.

'At that time, the information we had in front of us did not indicate a suspicious death,’’ she said.

Fairley said the assumption that the death was not suspicious meant that the opportunity for police to secure scenes and obtain more, and different information, was not obtained.

The decision not to investigate as a suspicious death meant police had provided incomplete information to the coroner’s office because they had formed the view the death was not suspicious.

Two on-duty coroners had asked whether there was any chance neglect had played a part in the death and whether any court proceedings could arise from it.

Paul Jones with his son Lachie as a toddler.

They both requested a forensic post-mortem be completed but after a lengthy conversation between the coroner and police, that did not happen.

Fairley said Sergeant Hua Tamariki had asked if he could take over the file, which he did, and she was confident that he would be able to do the job.

“I am regretful that I didn't give the investigation to the officer in charge of CIB in Gore,' Fairley said.

In hindsight, a senior CIB officer should have lead the file, she said.

Lawyers in the Invercargill Courthouse during week two of the coronial inquest into the death of Lachie Jones.

Fairley’s focus on the night was Lachie and his mother, Michelle Officer, she said.

She waited 10 days to obtain a witness statement from Officer because she wanted to let her grieve and hold a funeral.

Fairley said she had obtained good information from Officer on the night of the death and when she visited the next morning, she was comfortable she had captured what Officer had said.

On the night of Lachie’s death, Officer had told her Lachie had a habit of running off when she was trying to change his nappy.

'Her recollection and her demeanour was genuine and authentic,' Fairley said.

'I believed her.'

Obtaining a statement from Lachie’s half brothers Cameron and Jonathan was more difficult, she said.

Former police sergeant Hua Tamariki on the witness stand.

In hindsight, Fairley said it would have been beneficial to capture that information earlier.

Hua Tamariki, who was now a former police officer, began giving his evidence after lunch on Thursday.

Tamariki said that Fairley was in charge of the investigation and believed he was tasked to secure witness investigations.

He said he had never expressed an interest in taking over the file, and in his view Fairley had oversight of the file and therefore was the officer in charge.

With regard to whether there was any criminal culpability in relation to the death, Tamariki said he came to the conclusion that there would be no charges for negligence.

'I had no CIB training, so I completed my inquiries to the best of my abilities'', he said.

Lachie Jones, who was three years old when he died.

While being questioned by Robin Bates, who was counsel for police, Tamariki said he had no recollection of Paul Jones telling him of his concerns for Lachie while he was in the back of a police car.

'The journey was silent,'' he said.

Tamariki said he believed Jones had fabricated an injury so he did not have to stay in police custody.

Jones was cleared by ambulance staff but continued to complain of chest pains and was taken to Gore Hospital, where he was released, he said.

Tamariki said a doctor told him he was faking the chest pains and Jones walked to car with no issues.

Tamariki said it was a fictitious complaint and he told Jones he had wasted police time, so Jones was silent on the journey to Dacre, where he was handed over to Invercargill police.

He did not recall Jones saying 'I told you this was going to happen“ the night Lachie died when he was viewing his body at the ambulance station.

Tamariki made no notes in his notebook about the alleged comment and said he physically wanted to withdraw from Jones in case his presence upset him further at a difficult time.