Diplomat's death was an accident, say Solomons police

2.00pm

New Zealand diplomat Bridget Nichols' death from a single stab wound in the Solomon Islands was accidental, Solomon Islands Police Commissioner Morton Sireheti says.

Ms Nichols, 50, was New Zealand's deputy high commissioner in the Solomons. She died on March 17 after being stabbed inside the New Zealand High Commission's residential compound in Honiara.

Mr Sireheti said investigators from the Solomon Islands and New Zealand had concluded there were "no suspicious circumstances surrounding this death and all evidence points towards accidental death".

"The commissioner does not anticipate any criminal charges arising from either the investigation or the inquiry," he said in a statement.

Mr Sireheti said there had been a great deal of "interest, speculation and rumour" surrounding the case and he had therefore asked the director of public prosecutions to prepare for a hearing into Ms Nichols' death under the Death and Fire Inquiries Act.

"Such a hearing would allow all the facts relating to Ms Nichols' death to be heard in public before a magistrate," he said.

The hearing would take place in June in Honiara and evidence would be given by Solomon Islands and New Zealand police, a forensic scientist, expatriate New Zealanders and members of the local community.

Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Neil Walter said the ministry and Ms Nichols' family had been briefed by the New Zealand police who had participated in the inquiry.

"The available evidence points to the likelihood of accidental death rather than homicide," Mr Walter said in a statement.

However, a final determination on the circumstances surrounding Ms Nichols' death would have to await the June hearing, which Mr Walter understood was equivalent to a coroner's hearing in New Zealand.

The full facts surrounding Ms Nichols' death would be made public during that hearing.

"We look forward to receiving a definitive legal finding made on the basis of all the available evidence," Mr Walter said.

The ministry would make no further comment until judicial proceedings had been completed, he said.

The possibility that Ms Nichols' death may have been an accident was first raised by NZPA in March.

Superintendent Charles Lemoa of the Solomon Islands police told NZPA at the time that while police were still treating Ms Nichols' death as a homicide, the possibility her death had been an accident was being investigated.

He said police based that on finding the knife at the scene "having in mind that in the Solomon Islands in most murder cases or killings, police find it hard to locate the instruments used, such as knives or spears".

Police had not found any evidence of a break-in through the fence surrounding the property, focusing attention on the security guards minding the property.

Police had initially detained four people for questioning regarding the death, two of whom were security guards.

Three gave statements and were released, while a fourth person was held for further questioning before being released. He was not treated as a suspect, Mr Lemoa said.

- NZPA

Feature: Solomon Islands

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