Many hands at knife: Marceau’s parents

A coroner has recommended greater scrutiny of bail applications from serious offenders, after the killing of Auckland teen Christie Marceau.

Coroner Katharine Greig released her findings into Marceau’s death on Tuesday, following an inquest last year.

The 130-page report makes a host of recommendations to police, the Ministry of Justice, Corrections and Waitemata District Health Board (DHB).

Akshay Chand stabbed 18-year-old Christie to death in 2011 at her North Shore home while on bail for a previous attack on her. His bail address was a short walk from Christie’s home.

Chand, also 18, was found not guilty of her murder by reason of insanity after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He was placed in the care of Waitemata DHB’s Mason Clinic as a special patient.

In her findings, Greig said Christie’s death had ‘‘shocked the nation’’.

‘‘The tragedy and futility of Christie’s death, together with questions as to how Mr Chand came to be in a position where he could kill Christie, have continued to resonate and are a matter of strong public interest.’’

She noted that because Marceau died while Chand was on bail, there was ‘‘some public expectation that the coronial inquiry would consider whether the judge exercised his judicial discretion to grant bail correctly’’.

The inquest had no power to do so, because the grant of bail was a judicial decision that could only be properly reviewed by way of appeal, which did not happen in this case, the coroner said.

However, she recommended in her findings that the chief executives of the Ministry of Justice and Corrections, and the Police Commissioner, consult with key stakeholders about bail applications involving serious offences and a 24-hour curfew.

This was to ensure evidence was provided to the court in a suitable format for all such applications, including details of the proposed address, and whether or not the proposed bail address was acceptable to the prosecuting authority.

Changes to legislation should be considered as part of the consultation, the Coroner said.

Following release of the coroner’s report, Marceau’s parents Tracey and Brian Marceau said New Zealand’s bail system was ‘‘dysfunctional, noncommunicative - a disaster’’.

‘‘There were many hands on that knife that day,’’ Tracey Marceau told RadioLIVE.

‘‘I can’t forgive them for that and I never will forgive them. They can do what they want and try and hush things up, but at the end of the day, they’ve got to live with what they did.’’

Among Coroner Greig’s other recommendations were that the North Shore District Court undergo an in-depth review of document management, including the ‘‘adequacy of electronic document management systems’’.

‘‘New Zealand's bail system was 'dysfunctional, noncommunicative - a disaster'.’’

Tracey and Brian Marceau.