Two long scars, one from ear to chin across Ezmeralda Johns' lower cheek lay bare the terrorist's intentions that day. Video / NZ Herald
The insufficient preparation and priority of Corrections, police and intelligence services to deradicalise the LynnMall terrorist is being recognised amid wide-ranging support for the findings of a multi-agency review into the management of the Isis-inspired extremist who committed a mass stabbing last year.
Government ministers are accepting the review’s findings that referenced missed opportunities to provide rehabilitation, insufficient co-ordination between agencies, a reluctance to share information about the risk Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen posed and placing him in custody on remand for an “unacceptably long” period which “greatly exacerbated his risk of causing harm”.
Andrew Little, who was the lead minister for the Government’s response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Christchurch terror attack, acknowledged that the report implied the LynnMall attack could have been avoided - something he indicated his agreement with.
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis did not disagree the department was out of its depth, noting officials had never dealt with someone like Samsudeen before and that significant changes had been made in wake of the terrorist’s time in custody.
Two leaders of the Islamic community, a faith Samsudeen was affiliated with, are welcoming the findings and hoping lessons are learned to enhance deradicalisation capacity and prevent future attacks.
Samsudeen, originally from Sri Lanka, had been released after four years in prison in July, 2021, after being convicted of two charges of possessing objectionable material relating to the terror group Islamic State, and one charge of failing to assist a police officer exercising a search power.
In 2017, he had reportedly expressed a desire to fight for Isis in Syria, and that if he was prevented from travelling there, he would commit a knife attack in New Zealand.
On September 3 last year, Samsudeen entered a supermarket within New Lynn’s LynnMall shopping centre in Auckland and at least six people were injured as he carried out a frenzied attack with a knife.
Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen was fatally shot by police after carrying out a mass stabbing in Auckland last year. Photo / Alex Burton
Undercover tactical police officers, who had been tasked with surveilling Samsudeen following his release from prison, shot and killed him in the supermarket.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA), one of three bodies included in the joint review, found the officers were justified in their response to the threat posed by Samsudeen.
Alongside police, the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) and Corrections were the chief agencies responsible for Samsudeen’s management, and as such, their respective oversight bodies were involved in compiling the review - the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, and the Office of the Inspectorate.
It was acknowledged early in the report individuals and agencies were doing their best to deal with an “extremely difficult situation”.
“Mr Samsudeen was a very challenging person for them to engage with, and we were told that they faced problems they had never before experienced to that degree.”
The first of four shortfalls concerned how a strong focus on Samsudeen’s arrest and prosecution led to missed opportunities to develop a rehabilitative and reintegrative plan prior to and after his imprisonment.
The second deficiency referenced issues in how the National Security System was run, under the leadership of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC).
The third spoke of how highly relevant information to the management of Samsudeen’s risk was not shared due to a “very restrictive interpretation” of who needed to be informed.
One example concerned how information known about Samsudeen was withheld from police’s Māori, Pacific and ethnic services, even when they were asked to convene a meeting with the Muslim community to discuss the matter.
The final shortcoming in Samsudeen’s management was the “unduly lengthy period” he spent in custody on remand that was extended by approximately 18 months through several factors including Covid-19 lockdowns.
Andrew Little, the lead minister for the Government’s response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Christchurch terror attack, has accepted the report's findings. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Little, speaking to media, said it was clear stronger efforts to encourage Samsudeen away from extremism were missing.
“I think everybody who had contact with Mr Samsudeen knew the situation he was in, knew the risk that he posed, had a role to play to work to try to make sure there were effective interventions around him and that was the bit that didn’t happen,” he said.
“The report does acknowledge a couple of efforts that were clearly inadequate, those efforts needed to be made.”
Samsudeen was held in custody on remand for roughly four years, and it highlighted the importance of measures focused on rehabilitating Samsudeen.
“Everybody was focusing on protection and security, no one was focusing on what we needed to do to better manage his behaviour and the longer he spent in remand, the more bitter he got against the authorities and that compounded things down the track.”
Asked whether he could assure New Zealanders a similar attack wouldn’t happen again, Little pointed to the multi-agency He Aranga Ake programme that spawned from the Royal Commission into the 2019 Christchurch terror attack and the improvements made by Corrections as being signs of progress.
Davis told the Heraldhe accepted there were lessons to be learned for Corrections.
“It was the first time that they’ve had to deal with somebody with his intense needs, his risk profile and his background but certainly Corrections can learn from this.”
Not disagreeing with the suggestion Corrections was out of its depth, Davis outlined improvements to the ability of psychiatric services and further oversight of community reintegration would make an impact.
“They have taken on board the recommendations from the review and the chief executive has been quite explicit about what they have to do to change.”
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis. Photo / File
New Zealand Muslim Association president Ikhlaq Kashkari said his first thoughts were with the victims, saying he hoped the review had answered their questions.
Having been provided an early copy of the report, Kashkari said it aligned with what he and the community supported with respect to future changes.
“The report in itself and lots of things in there, we agree with and we’d already highlighted,” he told the Herald.
“I think it’ll be in line with the Muslim community’s expectations of what they thought where the system failed us as New Zealanders.”
Federation of Islamic Associations (FIANZ) chair Abdur Razzaq said the current priority was to implement the findings from the report.
“There has been a lot of new information coming through, a lot of deficiencies have been brought forward and it’s not business as usual now, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Razzaq said FIANZ had undertaken its own investigation over five months and would plan to release a report early next year.
Police Association president Chris Cahill said the findings didn’t surprise him but he welcomed the justification of Samsudeen’s fatal shooting.
“No one wants to have to exercise that lethal force but you certainly want to know when you have done it, that your decision-making was correct and that’s what’s been supported by the IPCA investigation.”
He was surprised by the suggestion police hadn’t sufficiently shared information relating to Samsudeen and considered it would not be common these days.
“I’d certainly say it’s a fault in this case, [but] it’s something that isn’t the norm anymore.”
