Inquest into the Deaths of Zaraiyah-Lily HEADLAND and Andreas Hohaia HEADLAND
Deceased
Zaraiyah-Lily HEADLAND and Andreas Hohaia HEADLAND
Demographics
unknown
Date of death
2016-10-20
Finding date
2020-01-16
Cause of death
asphyxiation in a child with drug effect
AI-generated summary
Two young children, aged 5 and 3, died following filicide by their father during a parental separation. The father purchased sedative medication (Restavit) on the afternoon of the deaths and administered it to the children before asphyxiating them. Police received a welfare check request at 6:45pm when the mother reported concerning statements from the father; she was not explicitly worried he would harm the children but had maternal instinct that something was wrong. Police took initial information, attempted phone contact with the father who agreed to bring children to the station, then reassigned the mother home. When the father failed to arrive after 40 minutes, police created a priority 3 welfare check job at 9:18pm and dispatch occurred at 9:50pm. Police arrived at 10:17pm to find both children already deceased. The coroner found the police response was procedurally appropriate but expressed concern that the initial recruit had strong intuitive warning signs that were not fully acted upon, and that earlier, more urgent police attendance might have presented a possible (though not definite) opportunity to intervene.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- administration of sedative medication (doxylamine) to children
- marital separation and relationship breakdown
- paternal aggression and emotional abuse preceding separation
- parental custody dispute
- delayed police dispatch (priority 3 classification)
- police accepting father's promise to attend station rather than conducting earlier welfare check
- lack of address obtained during initial phone contact with father
- prior concerning incident at PMH in January 2016 not available to police
Coroner's recommendations
- Police officers should trust their instincts more, particularly where vulnerable children are involved
- Police should remember recent cases of familicide when prioritising welfare checks on children during marriage breakdown
- Police should consider taking welfare check reporters to a quieter location to discuss concerns, particularly where potential domestic violence issues may be present
- Police should obtain location details from individuals during phone conversations about children's welfare
- Police should consider earlier dispatch of welfare checks rather than relying on promises to attend the station, particularly where separation and custody disputes are involved
- Police officers should be alert to the possibility of extreme outcomes when domestic violence and parental separation are involved, despite absence of documented history
Full text
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