Parents of murdered farmer remain hopeful for the truth
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RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
'Very active and happy' girl died in accidental Fiordland drowning, coroner says
Tegan Chen died after she slipped and fell into Marian Creek last year. Photo: Supplied A 10-year-old tourist died in Fiordland National Park due to "an accidental slip, during a happy family journey which had appalling consequences", a coroner says. Tegan Chen, of Lindfield, New South Wales, last year drowned in the fast-flowing Marian Creek, in the Hollyford Valley, after she fell in and was swept downstream. In findings released on Wednesday morning, Coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale described Chen as "a very active and happy girl". "She was brave and expressive. She loved horse riding, dancing, and performing for her family and friends. She had written many song lyrics," Borrowdale said. The fall happened on Lake Marian Falls Track, in the company of Chen's two older brothers, parents, two grandparents and an aunt, the coroner said. The family were on holiday and were returning to Te Anau after an overnight cruise in Milford Sound. The track - a popular 20-minute, 360-metre walk - had been recommended to the family. At about 11am on 25 January, the group walked to the end of a boardwalk, where a large, smooth outcrop of rocks jutted into Marian Creek, Borrowdale said. Marian Creek was an alpine, very cold, fast-flowing river fed from Lake Marian - "not a 'creek' in the usual use of that term", she said. The three children walked onto the rocks, which were not separated from the boardwalk by any structures. Chen had been squatting by the river's edge when her father saw her try to stand up, slip and fall into the river. As she was carried downstream, she was initially able to hold onto a rock and raise herself up, but was quickly swept off the rock and out of sight, Borrowdale said. Other visitors helped the family to look for Chen and emergency services were called. She was found unresponsive by a logjam about 420 metres downstream. Chen could not be revived, despite bystanders performing CPR as well as a doctor, who was winched in by an emergency helicopter. Tegan Chen Photo: Supplied A pathologist found Chen drowned and had also sustained bruises and abrasions consistent with being tumbled in a rocky river. Borrowdale said the track was on public conservation land managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). The department had "comprehensively investigated all factors within its control that may have been influential in the tragedy", she said. The track was well-maintained at the time of the accident and there was no prior history of serious reported incidents at the site where the boardwalk met the rocky outcrop. However, the department found storm damage in 2020 had subtly changed the track, and washed away some moss and ground cover that "may have been acting as a natural boundary between the walkway and the outcrop". Following the accident, DOC upgraded the track to include a platform that covered the rocks, with barriers on all sides and prominent signage warning of a drowning risk. It also internally reclassified the track to cater for less-experienced walkers and "short stop travellers". Borrowdale said in light of the significant safety improvements at the site, she had no further recommendations. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Mt Eden prison murder-accused and victim both known to mental health services
Photo: RNZ / Tim Watkin The Mt Eden prisoner killed last month and the cellmate who's been accused of his murder were both known to mental health services, it can be revealed. The victim's father says he wants to know how the two men came to share a cell. "If he hadn't been double bunked with this person he would still be with us. "That was the fault of Corrections. Corrections are supposed to care for people, and they had a duty of care to him, and they failed miserably on that." And in a surprising twist, the woman who was harassed by the victim for about a decade agrees. She says he should have been in a secure psychiatric facility "instead of being placed in the same environment as violent offenders". Do you know more? Email The inmate was killed at Auckland's Mt Eden Corrections Facility on 27 June. A 32-year-old man has been charged with murder. Corrections earlier said the inmate was in a double-bunked cell. RNZ can now reveal that both men were known to mental health services. The victim had recently been in a mental health unit in Whangārei as part of a compulsory treatment order and was in custody after breaching bail, and the murder-accused had a history with mental health services. The victim's father told RNZ his son was jailed in relation to breaching the conditions of a restraining order. He was eventually released and spent two weeks in a mental health facility in Whangārei before he was granted electronically-monitored bail to an apartment. He said that while at the mental health facility his son's medication was changed and he was "making good progress". However, he breached his conditions again and was arrested, spending three days in Northland Region Corrections Facility before being moved to Mt Eden. The man spent three days in Northland Region Corrections Facility before being moved to Mt Eden. Photo: The victim's father had been told that the alleged killer had a history with mental health services. He wants to know why the two men were placed in the same cell. "It was a complete failure of the duty of care to my son." He said growing up his son was a "good sportsman", but struggled holding down a job as he got older due to his mental health. "But we were hoping that with the new treatment he had, that he might improve there. It was just his mental health which held him back." He believed his son's mental health problems were "treatable". Corrections deputy commissioner Neil Beales said in a statement to RNZ an investigation by the independent Corrections Inspectorate was being carried out. All deaths in custody are referred to the coroner for investigation and determination of cause of death. "We acknowledge that many people will have questions and want answers about the circumstances that preceded this person's death. The court proceedings, investigations and the Coronial Inquest will form an important part of this process. "These proceedings all play a role in providing detailed, expert and impartial views of the circumstances surrounding a person's death. If there are agreed findings and recommendations in relation to our management of the victim or the accused, then we will absolutely act on these." Corrections deputy commissioner Neil Beales. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell said as the matter was before the court, with reviews under way, it was not appropriate for him to provide any further comment at this time. "My thoughts are with family and friends, and everyone impacted by this sad event." In response to questions from RNZ, a Health New Zealand spokesperson said "we acknowledge this incident". "We are unable to consider commenting on a person's medical treatment without a privacy waiver." A spokesperson for Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey said HNZ was best placed to respond from a health perspective. As the matter was subject to court proceedings and there are reviews underway, Doocey was unable to comment further at this time. Speaking to RNZ, Lauren (not her real name) says the victim, who she had never met, had been harassing her for about a decade before his death, sending her messages to all her social media accounts a few times a year. Then in 2021 it "took off", with the man sending things to her workplace, her family and even colleagues. The messages also became "very sexual", as well as comments that he would track her down, she said. Lauren never responded to the man. She said the man was initially issued a criminal harassment notice by police in Whangārei, which he breached. In September last year, she was granted a restraining order. However, the man breached the order after contacting a friend of Lauren's in April. Lauren reported the breach to police. The man was eventually arrested on two charges of non-compliance with a restraining order and failure to carry out obligations in regards to a search. He appeared in the Auckland District Court on 21 May seeking readmission onto electronic monitored bail. A court victim advisor told Lauren the application had been declined and he had been remanded in custody until 30 July. The man appeared in the Auckland District Court on 21 May seeking readmission onto electronic monitored bail. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi "At this stage, the court continues to wait for receipt of the x2 fitness reports which will determine whether the defendant is fit to stand trial." Lauren said she was in "disbelief" when she was told that the man had died. "It took a minute to kind of just process things, because it's, you know, it wasn't the call I was expecting." She does not think the man should have been in prison, and says someone like him should not have had a cellmate. "Anybody who's under mental health, and who's unpredictable, or that they're not sure what they're capable of, should not be having cellmates… They should be kept on their own. For their own safety, and the safety of others." She believed both the health system and justice system had been "grossly incompetent". "I can only look at the outcomes and it doesn't seem to be working." She said the harassment she received from the man was "extremely stressful". RNZ earlier revealed a case involving a man who has twice been found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity for two separate killings. After that article, chief victims advisor Ruth Money called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into forensic mental health facilities. Chief victims advisor Ruth Money. Photo: Stephanie Creagh Photography Last month, a suppression order was lifted allowing media to report another mental health patient, Elliot Cameron, had killed two people 50 years apart . Following the revelations, Money said she stood by her recommendation. "The public deserves an inquiry that can give actionable expert recommendations, as opposed to multiple coroners' inquests and recommendations that do not have the same binding influence. The patients themselves, and the public will be best served by an independent inquiry, not another internal review that changes nothing." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
UK Post Office scandal led to 13 suspected suicides, says report setting out toll
By Paul Sandle , Reuters Former Post Office Ltd chief executive David Mills arrives to give evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry in central London in April last year. Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS Thirteen people may have taken their own lives and others were bankrupted or became seriously ill as a result of Britain's Post Office scandal, a public inquiry found overnight, laying bare the toll of one of the country's worst miscarriages of justice. Inquiry chair Wyn Williams said on Tuesday (local time) he was satisfied that executives at the state-owned Post Office knew, or should have known, that its computer system was prone to errors, yet they publicly maintained the fiction it was accurate. From 2000-2013, the Post Office pursued branch managers, known as subpostmasters, for losses that appeared in their accounts but were caused by flaws in an IT system supplied by Japanese company Fujitsu. About 1000 people were convicted. Public outrage about the scandal mounted last year after a TV dramatisation of the case, "Mr Bates vs the Post Office", which led to legislation to exonerate those convicted. In the 162-page first volume of his report, Williams called for urgent action to ensure "full and fair" compensation for victims. His recommendations included free legal advice and compensation for family members. He said it was impossible to ascertain exactly how many people had been impacted, but said there were about 10,000 eligible claimants across four compensation schemes. "Many thousands of people have suffered serious financial detriment," he said in a speech after the publication. "Many businesses and homes have been lost, bankruptcies have occurred, marriages and families have been wrecked." "Tragically, I heard too of people whom it is said that they were driven to take their own lives," he added. Detailing 17 first-hand accounts, Williams said suffering ranged from those held liable for small amounts of money to those who were wrongly imprisoned, fell seriously ill or were driven to despair and suicide. Postmaster Martin Griffiths was given notice of termination of his contract in 2013 after shortfalls in his accounts. He then deliberately walked in front of a bus, suffering multiple injuries which caused his death at the age of 59. Following a request from the inquiry, the Post Office identified six former postmasters whose families said they had taken their own lives. A further seven people who were not postmasters had also taken their own lives as a consequence of false shortfalls, according to their families, the report said. Others suffered mental and physical health problems, bankruptcy and relationship breakdowns. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the publication of the report was an important milestone for subpostmasters and their families. "I am committed to ensuring wronged subpostmasters are given full, fair, and prompt redress," he said. The inquiry has held 226 days of hearings and has questioned 298 witnesses. The second volume of the final report, which will include the role of the Post Office, will be published in due course. - Reuters
