Ms CARNEY - 2005-10-12
I refer to you to the death of a seven-year-old girl, Louisa May Turner, who was killed in a car accident last month. Within days of that accident, the foreign driver of the other vehicle appeared in court. He received a suspended sentence and has since returned to Germany. Why did this matter go to court before the investigation into the accident had been completed? What were the reasons for the apparent rush? If there were a series of mistakes responsible for this farce, what where they? What are you doing to ensure that it does not happen again? Will you publicly release the findings of any review that you undertake?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question because it certainly was a very tragic accident. To all of us here who are parents, the death of a seven-year-old child in a motor vehicle accident would be absolutely devastating. We would all find it hard to put ourselves in the place of the Turner family, and our condolences go to the family.
From the outset, the Leader of the Opposition has it wrong. The police did conclude their investigation prior to charges being laid. If is she has been advised that investigations were not complete, they were ...
Ms Carney: The driver of the other vehicle was in hospital unconscious.
Mr HENDERSON: If the Opposition Leader wants to listen, she will get the answer.
What has happened since that time is that the Police Commissioner has ordered a review of the investigation that took place in terms of whether all operational and protocol procedures had been adhered to. That review has now been completed. The review file has been forwarded to the DPP’s office to advise the commissioner, and also the DDP, whether appropriate charges were laid in this particular instance. My understanding is that the DPP is pretty close to determining, from that particular file, whether those charges were appropriate.
However, with a tragedy such as this, and the media speculation that surrounded it, it certainly was a tragic circumstance. A seven-year-old child has died, but that does not necessarily link to the point that the other party involved in the accident is guilty of a criminal offence. Accidents do happen; they are tragic when they occur. In this particular circumstance, the issues do seem to be pretty unusual. However, I have every confidence in the Police Commissioner who has undertaken, off his motion, to conduct a review into that particular investigation.
The file is with the DPP. As soon as the DPP makes their determination, that will be made public.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question because it certainly was a very tragic accident. To all of us here who are parents, the death of a seven-year-old child in a motor vehicle accident would be absolutely devastating. We would all find it hard to put ourselves in the place of the Turner family, and our condolences go to the family.
From the outset, the Leader of the Opposition has it wrong. The police did conclude their investigation prior to charges being laid. If is she has been advised that investigations were not complete, they were ...
Ms Carney: The driver of the other vehicle was in hospital unconscious.
Mr HENDERSON: If the Opposition Leader wants to listen, she will get the answer.
What has happened since that time is that the Police Commissioner has ordered a review of the investigation that took place in terms of whether all operational and protocol procedures had been adhered to. That review has now been completed. The review file has been forwarded to the DPP’s office to advise the commissioner, and also the DDP, whether appropriate charges were laid in this particular instance. My understanding is that the DPP is pretty close to determining, from that particular file, whether those charges were appropriate.
However, with a tragedy such as this, and the media speculation that surrounded it, it certainly was a tragic circumstance. A seven-year-old child has died, but that does not necessarily link to the point that the other party involved in the accident is guilty of a criminal offence. Accidents do happen; they are tragic when they occur. In this particular circumstance, the issues do seem to be pretty unusual. However, I have every confidence in the Police Commissioner who has undertaken, off his motion, to conduct a review into that particular investigation.
The file is with the DPP. As soon as the DPP makes their determination, that will be made public.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016