Deadly driver twice dodged police search

Eight-year-old Liam Cooper and the mangled remains of the grey Holden Commodore that hit the car he was in at 180km/h.

A man being treated for mental health problems eluded police twice in the 24 hours before he crashed his car at 180 km/h, killing an 8-year-old boy.

Police and Rotorua's Lakes District Health Board have launched internal investigations into their handling of Pehi Rangi, 24, who is charged with the manslaughter of Liam Cooper after the crash in Tokoroa a week ago today.

Weekend Herald investigations show police had been searching for Rangi since the Friday night but when he was discovered in Taupo on Saturday morning, the duty sergeant called Rangi's parents and mental health case worker asking what to do.

It was 20 minutes before police went to the house, by which time Rangi had gone.

Rangi was in the care of the Lakes Mental Health Service, and his case worker, who met him at his parents' Atiamuri home on the Friday, was concerned about his mental state and wanted him to see a psychiatrist. But Rangi fled the meeting and his parents, Prue and Roger, filed a missing-person report with Taupo police.

Lakes Mental Health told police Rangi was confused and unlikely to cooperate with police. Although his case worker had wanted him to see a psychiatrist, Rangi was not thought to be a risk to himself or others.

Inspector Bob Burns said the constable who took the missing-person report saw Rangi's car in Taupo on Saturday morning while walking her dog and contacted the duty sergeant.

The sergeant made inquiries, then rang Rangi's parents to find out the best way to approach him and bring him to the station.

The sergeant waited about 20 minutes before going to the house but as he was driving there, Rangi's mother called to say her son had turned up in Atiamuri but fled again, Mr Burns said.

"That's when we did a broadcast, and then shortly after that we heard a number of calls from members of the public ... about a vehicle driving in a reckless manner and then shortly after that there was a crash."

Rangi's grey Holden Commodore hit the back of a Ford Laser driven by Tokoroa soccer club president Rowan Pringle. Soccer coach Mark Cooper was in the front passenger seat and his son Liam in the back.

Liam died at the scene. His father and Mr Pringle remain in hospital.

Mr Burns said he was making an internal investigation into the handling of the case.

On the Friday, police had listed Rangi as wanted, put out his number plate so patrols knew to look for his vehicle and asked his friends to call police if they saw him.

"The police can only go on what they're told by the people who report the incident, and basically the health professionals felt there were no fears for anybody's safety."

Mr Burns said there were probably quite a few questions to be asked about the handling of Rangi's case before police got involved.

"In a situation like this where a tragedy has occurred ... I think it would be very remiss if we didn't actually look into seeing if we could have done things a little bit better."

The Lakes District Health Board has confirmed that Rangi was known to staff but was not an in-patient.

Communications officer Sue Wilkie said senior clinicians were reviewing Rangi's treatment. The board had also contacted the Ministry of Health about the review.

Liam's grandmother, Patricia Ellis, said it was another case of the mental health system failing.

"The whole mental health system is just not satisfactory for these types of patients and unfortunately the Government is going to have to look into it again."

The family were waiting to see how Liam's father did before making funeral arrangements for the boy.

Rangi's lawyer, Matthew Bates, said his client - who was remanded to the Henry Bennett Centre in Hamilton after appearing in court this week - had not been well.

"He spends his time sitting and trying to take in what's going on around him - he doesn't say alot."