Dispatcher failures may have led to girl’s death

TAURANGA: The killing of a child by her father may have been prevented had a 111 dispatcher coded the call correctly.

Twoyearold Nevaeh Ager died at the hands of her father Aaron Izett in March last year.

Her body was found on the Maketu Estuary near Tauranga the day after her greatgrandmother made an emergency call to police at 5pm on Wednesday, March 20.

Nikki Sturgess visited the address Izett was living at with Nevaeh and rang the police to say the house was in a mess and Izett ‘‘was off his brain''.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) said the calltaker coded the event incorrectly, gave inaccurate advice and failed to record detail that may have affected the police response.

The calltaker advised them that police did not have ‘‘lawful powers'' to intervene, as the greatgrandparents did not have custody.

The next day police received a call about concerning behaviour at the same address and when officers attended, a naked Izett ran off into the estuary near the house. After a standoff police found Nevaeh's body weighed down by rocks in the water.

A jury found Izett guilty of murder at a trial earlier this month. He will be sentenced in February.

The IPCA said as it was not known exactly what time the girl died, it was therefore not possible to say whether police may have prevented her being harmed if they had made a welfare check shortly after Sturgess' call.

It said based on the information the calltaker had recorded, police responded appropriately.

The police said they let Nevaeh and her family down.

Assistant commissioner Tusha Penny said had the information been recorded properly and shared, police may have had an opportunity to intervene.

Police met Nevaeh's family on Monday to apologise in person and discuss the police response to the IPCA findings.

Penny said the calltaker and dispatchers involved were receiving ongoing support and training to ensure they were better equipped to respond to future incidents.