Wairarapa leads NZ 10 years after Coral killed

A DECADE ON: Featherston 6-year-old Coral Burrows was murdered by her stepfather. PHOTOS/FILE

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the tragic death of Featherston 6-year-old Coral Burrows, who was murdered at the hands of her stepfather.

But things have changed for the better for our children today, according to Wairarapa Violence Free Network co-ordinator Gerry Brooking, who says Wairarapa family violence reporting numbers have decreased by about 20 per cent, in the past few years, with Wairarapa now leading the rest of the country.

On September 9, 2003, when Coral failed to return home from school, authorities were notified and a search began with the Featherston community rallying behind the family to help find the young schoolgirl. Her body was discovered 10 days later in scrub near Lake Ferry.

After Coral had been reluctant to go to school her stepfather, Steven Williams, high on methamphetamine, "bashed her within an inch of her life", before driving her to a lay-by on Western Lake Rd. He had dumped her body but heard her moan, so delivered a final lethal blow to her head, moved her body, and left her until she was found.

Williams pleaded guilty to murder and received a life sentence with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.

Three years before Coral's death, Carterton toddler Hinewaoriki Karaitiana Matiaha, known as Lillybing, died from a brain injury resulting from a severe shaking by her step-aunt, Rachealle Namana, and a year later Masterton sisters, Saliel Aplin and Olympia Jetson, were stabbed to death by their stepfather, Bruce Howse.

Wairarapa has witnessed some of the worst child-abuse cases in New Zealand history and last year Wairarapa police received more than 1000 domestic-violence reports - about 19 a week -although that was fewer than in other years.

Despite the high numbers, Ms Brooking said a decade on from Coral's death things had "absolutely" improved, with family violence reporting numbers in decline.

She said fewer reporting numbers could be attributed, in part, to better collaboration between agencies and talking more openly about family violence.

The journey to change was well in motion before Coral died, Ms Brooking said. The murders of the Masterton sisters, Saliel and Olympia, were "the starting point" with a report in 2002 on the involvement of Child, Youth and Family Services with the Jetson/Aplin family.

"When Coral Burrows died in 2003 we had really started on that journey to changing things. There is a lot more collaboration, a lot more working together by agencies in terms of information sharing. We talk a lot more openly about family violence in Wairarapa [now]," she said.

Anti-violence agencies now focus on doing more proactive work with families. "There is a lot more work being done at the lower level, rather than leaving it to crisis points where people are coming to the attention of police because of serious assaults. They are being engaged earlier and they're able to seek help earlier."

Another positive change Ms Brooking said which had come from tragedies, like that of Coral Burrows, were domestic violence courts.

"We've got a domestic violence court in Masterton, which plays a big role and we also have a family safety team," she said.

The family safety team is just one of the programmes aimed at "high-risk groups" and is run by the Safer Wairarapa Community Council.

Ms Brooking said although family violence was not acceptable, she found people were now asking for help earlier, and were helped by others who had become more aware, thanks to public awareness raising of the issue.

Today, Wairarapa leads the rest of the country when it comes to reducing domestic violence and child abuse - with reporting numbers of cases lower than in previous years, she said. "The work that we did early on is really starting to pay off, so now we're actually seeing our statistics reduce in Wairarapa.

"Because of where we have come from, the work that we have done has actually placed us ahead of the rest of the country."