Iraena Asher's relatives call on ombudsmen

Iraena Asher was last seen in Piha.

The Asher family accuse police of withholding information about the case and have asked the Office of the Ombudsmen to investigate.

Betty Asher said police had not released all the information requested by the family and claimed that staff were still subject to disciplinary action.

The family did not accept that, she said.

"I know, through the Police Complaints Authority, that it has come to a conclusion and [the staff] had an adverse report put on their record, which means stuff all.

"They didn't follow policy and procedure and to add insult to injury they made disgusting comments in the background [when Iraena was on the phone]."

Mrs Asher also called for a follow-up report on changes to improve the communications centres to reassure the public the system was not putting other lives at risk.

In a brief statement to the Herald, a spokesman for the Office of the Commissioner yesterday said police had released "a substantial amount" of information to the Asher family in response to their requests.

The office was not aware of any action by the Office of the Ombudsmen.

The spokesman said police had made "significant progress" implementing the changes at communications centres.

Police had stayed in touch with the independent panel to discuss progress.

The spokesman said there would be independent reviews of the centres.