Lawyer preparing for boy’s inquest: ‘The time to come forward is now’ Anyone with information about the case could contact Simpkins at reception@simpkinslegal.co.nz
If you know anything about the death of Lachie Jones, the time to come forward is now, a lawyer says. Rotorua lawyer Max Simpkins has been in Gore this week preparing for the inquest into the death of the 3-year-old toddler in Gore in 2019.
He is urging the public to come forward with information they have, no matter how trivial they think it may be.
Lachie’s body was found in the Gore District Council’s wastewater ponds in January 2019. His father, Paul Jones has fought for five years to have an inquest into the death, after two police investigations failed to determine how his son died.
“We have made good progress and we have spoken to a lot of people, but I believe there are people in this community who know what happened to Lachie, and the time to speak out is now,’’ Simpkins said.
Jones has always maintained Lachie did not wander off from his mother’s home on Salford St and drown in the ponds because there were no marks on his body, despite police finding he had walked 1.2km with bare feet and a full nappy through scrubby land.
He was also found floating face up in the ponds, and an autopsy determined there was no water in his lungs.
Jones said while he was ‘’excited’’ the inquest had finally been granted, apprehension was kicking in as the date drew closer.
When asked if he was nervous, he said, ‘’bloody hell yeah’’.
“The last two months have taken their toll on me really; I’m not feeling very strong at all. But the inquest is the only way I’m going to get answers and find out how my son died.
“It’s a bit daunting, you know, it’s been such a long time coming.’’
Following two police investigations into the death, Coroner Alexander Ho ordered an inquest to be held, and the first threeweek session was scheduled to begin in Invercargill on April 29.
A second two-week session will be held in August.
A minute issued by Coroner Ho in August 2023 said the issues for the inquest would include whether the pathologist was correct to conclude that Lachie died from drowning, the circumstances that led to him being found in the pond, whether other individuals were involved in his death, and whether the circumstances of his death included neglect.
The minute said Jones had obtained expert reports from Dr Alexander Kolar, a forensic pathologist, who said that there was insufficient pathological evidence to support the pathologist's conclusion that Lachie died from drowning; and Karen Smith, a retired United States crime scene investigator, who identified what she considered to be deficiencies in the police investigations and advanced a hypothesis that other individuals had greater involvement in Lachie’s disappearance than police investigations concluded.
In March this year, police acknowledged “steps were missed” in the early stages of their investigation into the death.
Southern Police district commander Paul Basham requested a national investigations overview of police’s handling of the investigation, and self-referred the matter to the IPCA to ensure an independent process was also carried out.
An IPCA spokesperson said it had received the final report from police on their investigation and it was in the process of reviewing it.
They were unable to say how long that process would take, or whether it would be released before the inquest began.