Speaker 1: Kiota. I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is a bonus episode
Speaker 1: of the Front Page, a daily podcast presented by the
Speaker 1: New Zealand Herald. Six years after Gore toddler Locke Jones
Speaker 1: was found dead in a gore oxidation pond, the coroner
Speaker 1: has handed down his findings. Coroner Alexander Hoe has called
Speaker 1: for a third police investigation, concluding that there were gaps
Speaker 1: in the original one that make it difficult to truly
Speaker 1: establish what happened to the three year old that night.
Speaker 1: Enzed Herald reporter Ben Thomson has been following the proceedings
Speaker 1: and joins us now on the Front Page to discuss
Speaker 1: the coroner's findings. So then the key thing people want
Speaker 1: to know is was this foul play or was it
Speaker 1: an accident? What is the coroner said on that regard,
Speaker 1: So Coroner.
Speaker 2: Hoe, he's not actually reached a definitive conclusion whether Lockie's
Speaker 2: death was a result of foul play or an accident.
Speaker 2: He said, the evidence has not established the police's original
Speaker 2: conclusion was obviously that Lockey accidentally drowned after wandering off,
Speaker 2: Nor was he able to rule out other possibilities, including
Speaker 2: third party involvement. So ultimately, the coroner's ultimately found that
Speaker 2: the cause of death was undetermined. He said, he's not
Speaker 2: satisfied that the evidence makes accidental drowning the likeliest one,
Speaker 2: and that renders all other possibilities unlikely.
Speaker 1: So the bulk of the report highlights what Hoe says
Speaker 1: are gaps in the initial investigation. What are some of
Speaker 1: those common errors or concerns that police made when looking
Speaker 1: at this case?
Speaker 2: So, and then his findings the coroner has He's essentially
Speaker 2: slammed the initial police investigation. He's I said witness statements
Speaker 2: and timings around Lockie's movements were inconsistent and at times
Speaker 2: completely unreliable. These gaps meant he was unable to look
Speaker 2: at the investigation and conclusively determine how and when Locke
Speaker 2: came to be in the water. He was also fairly
Speaker 2: critical of the pathologist's report, saying the original post modern
Speaker 2: report was so poor that he could also not safely
Speaker 2: rely on that, specifically relating to the fact that Lockey's
Speaker 2: skull was never opened during the autopsy, leaving the potential
Speaker 2: faithal head trauma unexplored.
Speaker 1: A lot of the media attension around this case has
Speaker 1: been driven by Lockey's father, pol his council suggested during
Speaker 1: the inquest hearings last year that Locke's mother, Michelle Officer,
Speaker 1: and her sons Jonathan and Cameron Scott were involved in
Speaker 1: Locke's death in some way. What did Hoe have to
Speaker 1: say about that line of questioning, so.
Speaker 2: Cornahoe, he did address those claims, those accusations directly. He said.
Speaker 2: The theory pushed by Paul Jones's council his lawyer Matt Simpkins,
Speaker 2: that Lockey's mother, Michelle or her other sons Locky's half
Speaker 2: brothers killed Lockey or stored his body in a freezer
Speaker 2: they moved it to the pond. Cornahoet said that was
Speaker 2: implausible and unsupported by evidence. It was in the findings
Speaker 2: that Locke was seen alive and running down Salford Street
Speaker 2: between eight fifty nine to fifteen pm, which rendered the
Speaker 2: theory of an early death and the body being placed
Speaker 2: in a freezer theory not forcible in the coroner's words,
Speaker 2: So they said it was inherently improbable that Miss Officer
Speaker 2: was complicent in any unlawful killing of her child. So
Speaker 2: in regards to Cameron Scott, the eldest of the half brothers.
Speaker 2: He said there was no implication or essentially nothing to
Speaker 2: place Cameron around the home around the time Lockie went missing.
Speaker 2: As for Jonathan Scott, who was living with Michelle and
Speaker 2: Lockey at the time Lockee went missing, he caught him
Speaker 2: to question his reliability as a witness, but he failed
Speaker 2: to make any definitive rulings on Jonathan's whereabouts or actions
Speaker 2: the night of Lockey's disappearance, largely due to a lack
Speaker 2: of reliable evidence.
Speaker 1: So what of the families had to say about the
Speaker 1: new investigation and the rest of the coroner's findings.
Speaker 2: Yes, So, Following the coroner's findings today, Paul Jones spoke
Speaker 2: to media outside the courthouse. He said he was quite
Speaker 2: satisfied with Coronerhoe's findings and that he had done a
Speaker 2: wonderful job over the last few months. He did speak
Speaker 2: to his doubts that a subsequent investigation will bring her
Speaker 2: any more closure, but he did say that he would
Speaker 2: like to see the reinvestigation conducted by Metropolitan Police from
Speaker 2: Auckland as well as being overseen by the Police Commissioner.
Speaker 2: Michelle Officer released a statement through her lawyer, Beatrix Woodhouse,
Speaker 2: saying that she welcomed the coroner's findings, acknowledging that the
Speaker 2: coroner accepted that Locke slipped away from her in a
Speaker 2: brief moment of inattention, and she wished to thank the
Speaker 2: members of the public who provided evidence and the many
Speaker 2: people who showed her compassion throughout this time. She also
Speaker 2: expressed her concern with the coronial process. She intended to
Speaker 2: be a healing process, but she felt an adversarial and
Speaker 2: quite a traumatizing experience. She reiterated that throughout the process
Speaker 2: she has remained steadfast in her account and following the
Speaker 2: colner's findings, she hopes to grieve privately alongside her two sons.
Speaker 1: So what are the next steps? Ben? Is it too
Speaker 1: early to say what will happen with the police investigation? Yeah?
Speaker 2: So what's next? Is? The next move essentially lies with
Speaker 2: the police. The coroner has recommended a full and fresh reinvestigation,
Speaker 2: emphasizing that it's an operational matter for police to determine
Speaker 2: how and by whom it would be carried out. He
Speaker 2: has suggested the investigation should be led by an experienced
Speaker 2: officer outside from the Southam district, and he's directed police
Speaker 2: to report back to the Coroner on the progress on
Speaker 2: the new investigation by our sixteenth of January next year.
Speaker 1: And Ben, you've been reporting on this case for quite
Speaker 1: some time, sitting through the inquest, and we spoke to
Speaker 1: you about that when that happened, and of course this
Speaker 1: one as well. What sticks out to you in this case,
Speaker 1: what's new that you've found today?
Speaker 2: I think, or the coroner directing a new investigation or
Speaker 2: a reinvestigation be opened into the matter. I think it
Speaker 2: was somewhat expected, but at the same time quite a
Speaker 2: surprise that the coroner has not directly pointed the finger
Speaker 2: at anyone, but he's essentially saying, let's reopen this investigation
Speaker 2: to narrow and close any room for misjustice or anything
Speaker 2: like that. He's essentially trying to close all the other possibilities. Essentially,
Speaker 2: there are just a lot of big, wide empty spaces
Speaker 2: and the layout of information here. You know, there are
Speaker 2: witnesses who say they saw Locke running along Salford Street,
Speaker 2: but they failed to corroborate certain times as other witnesses.
Speaker 2: And he essentially said it's the main fact that Locke
Speaker 2: was indeed running down Salford Street, but whether or not
Speaker 2: he was intercepted at the corner of Salford Street and
Speaker 2: Grassland's Road, which is the road leading towards the oxidation pond.
Speaker 2: He said that will remained a possibility. While I'm plausible
Speaker 2: there was no evidence to rule that out. Thanks for
Speaker 2: joining us, Ben no worries. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1: That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
Speaker 1: can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
Speaker 1: at enzad Herald dot co dot nz. The Front Page
Speaker 1: is produced by Ethan Sills and Richard Martin, who is
Speaker 1: also a sound engineer. I'm Chelsea Daniels. Subscribe to The
Speaker 1: Front Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcast,
Speaker 1: and tune in on Monday for another look behind the headlines.