Judge hits at police for lapses in death inquiry

Auckland City police have been criticised for letting a hit and run driver go after he had turned himself in.

The driver, who had been involved in a fatal accident, was allowed to leave Auckland Central Police Station because no one was available to interview him.

A Police Complaints Authority inquiry into the way officers investigated the accident that killed 19-year-old Maxine van der Velden concluded: "It is ... disappointing to note a lack of cohesion and commitment in the police approach to the investigation of Maxine's death, particularly in its critical early stages".

Maxine died eight days after she was hit by a car on Hopetoun St Bridge and thrown 30m through the air in October 2004.

The driver, who was not licensed and was on parole, got out of the car, looked at Maxine and drove off despite witnesses pleading with him to stay. But he turned himself in at Central the following day.

Maxine's parents were left wondering what happened that night. The findings of an internal investigation into the handling of the case angered them even more so they took their grievances to the authority.

Now, on the eve of the second anniversary of Maxine's death, the authority has agreed with the van der Velden's - the inquiry into the bubbly Auckland University student's death could have been better.

In his finding Judge Ian Borrin criticised several areas of the initial investigation, saying not enough effort was made to find other witnesses at the scene or to locate the driver.

He said allowing the driver to leave the station once he handed himself in was a "regrettable lapse in sound investigative practice".

When the interview was eventually carried out Judge Borrin said it was "lacking in depth" and failed to explore the driver's version of events in sufficient detail.

Witnesses who could have verified his story - including whether any alcohol or drugs had been consumed as the van der Velden's believe - were not interviewed until much later.

The driver was convicted last November and sentenced to nine months in prison and disqualified from driving for four years.

Judge Borrin acknowledged police resources were limited but said: "It is nevertheless disappointing to note a lack of cohesion and commitment in the police approach to the investigation of Maxine's death, particularly in its critical early stages.

"While realistically it is probable that, even with a more positive approach, the outcome of the investigation and prosecution is likely to have been the same, that does not mean that the police investigation should have been anything less than timely and completely thorough."

While Judge Borrin found no evidence of misconduct or neglect of duty by the police he said it was "apparent that the processes and procedures relating to the investigation of Maxine's death did not operate satisfactorily in some respects".

Those matters are to be referred to Police Commissioner Howard Broad.

The findings have gone some way to alleviating the anger Jan van der Velden has felt since his daughter died.

"The PCA people were brilliant. For the first time I was dealt with by people who understood and kept me informed.

"For the first time I could see that they [the PCA] picked up a couple of things that I saw was wrong in the first place. "

Mr van der Velden said the way the initial investigation was handled and his subsequent battle with the police had made dealing with his daughter's death much more difficult.

"For us closing the circle is starting to concentrate on the grief rather than the anger and the way they handled us basically denied us [a way] of dealing with our grief."

Mr van der Velden said he wanted police to learn from what happened so no other parent had to suffer.

"What I definitely don't want is an apology, that would be an insult ... The anger is still there but I will now try hard [to move on]."

Auckland City police said they had dealt with the matters raised - particularly regarding how the interview was conducted - as performance and training issues.