Paul Tainui was determined to harm the woman he went on to murder after being processed for drink driving, police say. In a report out today, the police watchdog found officers were reasonable not to arrest or detain him.
Paul Tainui in court. Photo: Supplied by NZ Herald
In a report out today, the Independent Police Conduct Authority found that officers were justified in their dealings with Paul Tainui when he was stopped in Christchurch in April 2018.
Tainui, who was a convicted murderer out on parole, had been charged with drink driving and had his keys were confiscated before leaving on foot and going to the home of Nicole Tuxford, where he killed her the following morning.
He had also told officers that he had knives in the car.
"At the time, police did not have adequate mechanisms or training in place to identify when a parolee needed to be arrested and urgent consideration given to an application for their recall to prison. Police have since worked with the Department of Corrections to ensure a better system is in place," the IPCA said in its report.
"The Authority accepts the officer's assessment of the situation was reasonable as was his decision making.
"There were no clear processes in place at the time for him to follow in respect of parolees and nothing in the law to require that life parolees be arrested when suspected of committing an imprisonable offence," said Authority Chair, Judge Colin Doherty.
Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price said Tainui was on a determined path to harm Tuxford. Price said Tainui's interaction with police was not a deterrent and the officers could not have predicted what he would go on to do.
"Nicole Tuxford's murder was a tragedy and her family remain in our thoughts as they continue to deal with the unimaginable pain and distress caused by her loss.
"Our thoughts remain also with the family of Kim Schroder, who was murdered by Tainui in 1994, for the horrendous re-traumatising they faced following Nicole's murder."
Price said police accept the IPCA's findings that the officer who dealt with Tainui at the drink drive checkpoint acted appropriately and in line with police policies, and that it was reasonable not to detain or arrest him.
"As the facts of this case have shown, Tainui was on a determined path to causing harm to Nicole when he was stopped.
"The interaction with police had no deterring effect on him, and the officers who dealt with him simply had no realistic way to predict what he would go on to do.
"Those officers have also been deeply affected by Tainui's despicable actions, however as this report outlines, they made appropriate decisions based on the information they had."
Price said, there was no indication during their interaction of what Tainui would do and no reasonable requirement for them to detain him.
Since this incident police and Corrections have worked to make improvements to support frontline officers who may come into contact with life parolees.
This includes an alert on the police database to advise an officer of relevant information about a life parolee, and further directions about how they should be dealt with, including making contact with Corrections via an Incident Line to advise of the arrest and to ascertain whether a recall application will be made.
He said while the IPCA had emphasised that there was no certainty Nicole's death would have been averted if the enhanced notification system had been in place, police and Corrections had worked hard to develop an improved process to protect the public and support front-line officers, and would continue to work together to appropriately manage offenders on parole.