The Boy in the Water Season 4 open now
The Boy in the Water is an award-winning investigative podcast about a small town harbouring a big mystery, led by Newsroom's investigations editor Melanie Reid.
Season 4 of The Boy in the Water will be covering every section of the coroner's findings into the death of Gore toddler, Lachie Jones.
Listeners can subscribe to DELVE to get early and ad-free access to each episode as it is released, with episodes released to non-subscribers a few days later.
The Boy in the Water won best podcast and best investigation at the 2024 Voyager Media Awards, Best True Crime Podcast at the 2024 NZ Podcast Awards, and Best True Crime podcast at 2025 NZ Radio and Podcast Awards. It has garnered more than 2.5 million downloads.
If you would like to support our work, you can sign up to our new podcast channel DELVE+ through Apple Podcasts here and for Android and Spotify listeners here.
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Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Gore photographer's shot recognised
Bob Smith's photo of Boston George Setefano, 17, performing kapa haka at last year's Matariki celebrations in Waimumu, has been selected as part of the Four Nations Photographic Challenge. Photo: Bob Smith A photo of a Blue Mountain College head boy doing kapa haka during last year's Matariki celebrations has been chosen as part of an international photography competition. Bob Smith's photograph of Boston George Setefano (Ngāti Porou) has been chosen, alongside 80 other images from New Zealand, for the Four Nations Photographic Challenge. The black-and-white photograph was taken in Waimumu in 2024, and Mr Smith said he was beyond surprised to have been selected. "I couldn't believe my eyes when the announcement came out," he said. The life member of the Gore Camera Club said he had entered in previous years, but never heard anything back. "Eyer in with the pretty top photographers in the country," he said. Glenda Rees, also from Gore, has a shot selected as well. Blue Mountain teacher Arrhae Gawky Eales, who runs the kapa haka group Boston is the CAI (leader) of, said it was a privilege to see this photo of him. "I think I could write a book on this young man," she said. "Boston has helped lead the way for young Māori to be proud to be Māori." The cultural group is called Te Atka Kapa Haka Abhor, and is part of Te Atka Māori Charitable Trust. Mr Smith said the photos are sent to an independent association to be judged and the winners will be announced in September. The competition includes photographers from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Canada, and the Photographic Society of New Zealand is this year's host.
RNZ News
23-07-2025
- RNZ News
Gore's brown trout statue defaced overnight amid drinking water crisis
Gore's iconic brown trout statue and welcome sign were defaced overnight. Photo: GREENPEACE AOTEAROA / SUPPLIED Gore's iconic brown trout statue and welcome sign have been defaced, with Greenpeace claiming responsibility. In a press release, Greenpeace Aotearoa said it was highlighting the town's drinking water crisis . Last Friday, local residents were issued a do not drink notice after high levels of nitrates were found in the water supply. The notice was lifted on Monday evening. Greenpeace Aotearoa said the dairy industry had "wrecked" Gore's drinking water and it was unacceptable the community was unable to drink the water coming out of their taps. But Federated Farmers called for Greenpeace to be stripped of its charitable status, and said the vandalism was a "shameless attempt to divide the rural community and spread anti-farm propaganda". "Greenpeace need to be held accountable for their repeated illegal activity," Southland Federated Farmers president Jason Herrick said. "I think it's a total abuse of charitable status. "How can they be recognised as a charity when they're breaking all kinds of laws trespassing on private property, vandalising public property, and intimidating the community." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Newsroom
14-07-2025
- Newsroom
The Boy in the Water: Is the police complaints authority fit for purpose?
On its website, the Independent Police Conduct Authority states its mission is to be 'a world class police oversight body'. 'We exist to support public expectations…for the justice system to be trusted and effective.' But in light of a recent high profile coronial finding, questions are being asked about whether New Zealand's police watchdog is fit for purpose. On June 13, Coroner Alexander Ho released his findings into the death of Gore three-year-old Lachlan Jones, whose body was found face up in the town's sewage oxidation pond on a hot night in January 2019. Police quickly deemed Lachie's death an accident and closed the case, concluding the preschooler had walked more than a kilometre from his mother's house in his hi-vis vest, climbed over a fence and traipsed across long prickly grass in bare feet to the end of the second of two vast ponds before falling in and drowning. Following extensive investigations carried out by investigative journalist Melanie Reid, police reopened the case, the new review headed by a detective inspector from Dunedin. More than a year later they completed that investigation, releasing a short media statement that said the matter had concluded and been referred back to the coroner. But Reid and her team uncovered further critical information into the case and multiple flaws in the police investigations into his death. Following the release of the first season of DELVE podcast investigation The Boy in the Water, police announced a review into their handling of the case, led by Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney. Police also self-referred the matter to the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) 'to ensure an independent process is also carried out.' Both the internal police review and the IPCA came to the same conclusion – they decided not to take matters further. At the time, Newsroom requested a copy of the IPCA report, and were advised it was to be released 'in due course.' The IPCA then updated that advice, sayng it 'may decide to await the outcome' of the inquest. Eighteen months later and the IPCA says that, while its decisions are published once concluded, it has not published that initial report, and has no further comment to make. A summary of Newsroom's correspondence with the IPCA can be found at the end of this article. Lachie Jones. Photo: Instagram The Coroner disagrees In the meantime, the coroner Alexander Ho held a coronial inquest into Lachie's death, carried out over five weeks at the Invercargill courthouse in 2024 and covered extensively in seasons two and three of The Boy in the Water. Today is the final episode of season four of the podcast, which goes through every section of the Coroner's findings. It lays bare the stark contrast between those earlier assessments by police and the IPCA, and the coroner's findings. In his report, he describes the original investigation as 'a shambles', citing confusion over who was in charge, a lack of urgency, premature conclusions and basic investigative failures. He explicitly rejects the police's narrative, writing: 'I disagree with Detective Superintendent Sweeney's conclusion… I do not accept that the police investigations correctly outline what occurred that evening. Indeed, I have found in many instances that the evidence does not support the propositions which the police presented as concluded fact.' However the IPCA's review effectively had rubber-stamped the police's internal review led by Sweeney. (The coroner wrote in his findings that the IPCA had concluded the Sweeney report 'adequately addressed matters'.) The result? Two police investigations, one internal review, and an IPCA assessment, all now called into question by the coroner. Melanie Reid says: 'We came to Gore five years ago and said the policing in this case was a debacle. From day one, it was glaringly obvious this police investigation had holes you could drive a truck through. It's of no surprise to us the coroner has reached the same conclusion. 'It is troubling that police brought in one of their own top officers to do an independent review, who in short said 'no issue here'. And his view was rubber stamped by the IPCA. In view of the coroner's official findings, that's somewhat embarrassing.' Back to the IPCA The IPCA is New Zealand's only body charged with independently investigating police conduct. Yet in this case, it failed to intervene despite repeated red flags, public scrutiny and independent journalism raising alarms. Meanwhile the coroner has directed the police to reinvestigate Lachie's death for a third time, using police from outside the Southland district, and report back by January 2026. He also referred to the IPCA 'the police's conduct as it relates to the investigations which have been conducted to date into Lachie's death', effectively challenging it to reconsider its previous decision not to take matters further. But can the IPCA be relied upon to conduct a thorough investigation? On the day the coroner's findings were released, Newsroom asked the IPCA for its response and sent a list of questions, including: what do the coroner's findings say about the IPCA's review processes; were the safeguards sufficient in this case; and, if the police and IPCA are coming to vastly different conclusions than the coroner, are the current mechanisms fit for purpose? We also asked what measures the IPCA will take to ensure a thorough investigation of the police handling of this case this time around. It responded only to say it was 'considering' the Coroner's findings. That was nearly four weeks ago. So we went back to ask again for a response to our questions. The IPCA replied that it is 'not able to indicate a timeframe for the conclusion of our consideration' and has no further comment to make.
