Luke Batty inquest hears police cannot stop men intent on murdering children | Australia news | The GuardianLuke Batty inquest hears police cannot stop men intent on murdering children | Australia news | The Guardian










Close






Skip to main content

 









sign in








subscribe









search




jobs






more


from the guardian:


jobs


change edition:



switch to the UK edition


switch to the AU edition







US edition




switch to the UK edition




switch to the Australia edition













The Guardian


Winner of the Pulitzer prize











home


›
world


›
australia




UK


europe


americas


asia


middle east


africa










home




US




world
selected




opinion




sports




soccer




tech




arts




lifestyle




fashion




business




money




travel




environment







browse all sections
close







 











Crime - Australia



Luke Batty inquest hears police cannot stop men intent on murdering children









Victorian assistant police commissioner Luke Cornelius tells inquest of sorrow and regret over death of 11-year-old at hand of his fugitive father














Luke Batty was killed by his father at Tyabb cricket oval on the Mornington peninsula. Photograph: AAP




Melissa Davey






@MelissaLDavey





Wednesday 3 December 2014 21.36 EST







Share on Facebook







Share on Twitter







Share via Email







Share on LinkedIn







Share on Google+







Share on WhatsApp
















Police probably could not stop a man killing family members if he had “murder in his heart”, a Victorian assistant police commissioner has told the Luke Batty inquest.
Eleven-year-old Luke was murdered by his father, Greg Anderson, on a cricket oval in Tyabb in February.
Giving evidence at the state’s coroner’s court on Thursday morning, Luke Cornelius told the coroner, Ian Gray: “I went to bed the night Luke died asking, ‘How many other Lukes are out there? How would I know?’ ”
“That night, I didn’t know the answer to that question and that deeply troubled me. There was no one that could tell me, ‘Here’s the list.’ ”
Cornelius told the court he had challenged himself and his colleagues about what they might have done differently to have prevented Luke’s death. He had concluded that no matter how effective and accountable those charged with responding to family violence were, nothing could have been done to stop a perpetrator like Anderson.
“If a man has murder in his heart – if he intends for a reason unknown to us to cause harm to a victim or more explicitly, his children – we are not going to be able to prevent those deaths,” Cornelius said.
“They are such a small number of incidences within the context of all the incidences we contend with, and there are so many unknown factors that remain only in the mind of an offender.”
Since the inquest began in October, the court has heard that no one, including Luke’s mother and Anderson’s ex-partner, Rosie Batty, believed Anderson would ever harm Luke. Anderson also died at the scene of Luke’s death, after stabbing himself and being shot by a police officer.
But Cornelius said many improvements could be made to the way police and the judicial system handled family violence cases.
In the middle of giving his evidence, he stood up from the witness table and turned to face Batty, who was sitting in the front row of the public gallery.
“Rosie, if I may,” he said. “I spoke to [Victorian police commissioner] Ken [Lay] as late as last night, and he asked me to personally convey our deepest condolences and sorrow at your tragic loss.
“Speaking as the regional commander that sought to provide you with a service and support you so clearly needed, it has been a source of deep reflection and pain for me and my colleagues about this tragic loss and what would I do to make it better, and how we might challenge ourselves to make the community safer from this terrible behaviour we see being inflicted by men on people they profess to love.”
At the time of Luke’s death, there were four warrants out for Anderson’s arrest. Throughout the inquest, the court has examined whether opportunities to arrest Anderson, or prevent him from being released on bail, were missed.
Questions have also been asked about whether child protection officers, police and the courts underestimated the risk posed to the Battys by Anderson, who was also facing charges relating to the possession of child abuse images.
Cornelius said it was “very clear” Victoria police needed significant change to the way they approached family violence. For too long, he said, police had devalued the voice of victims.
“We’re [now] trying to drive a victim-centric approach and take the time to develop relationships with victims and creating a context where victims can tell their story and where we can understand how a perpetrator may have conditioned a victim to respond in a certain way. We want to understand what the victim has had to contend with.”
He said the court system was being manipulated and “gamed” by family violence perpetrators to further abuse victims. “The multiple missed attendances at a court,” he said. “The failure to progress matters as a result. The misfires around bail. 
“These are opportunities that can be used by the accused to manipulate the system and continually drag a victim through court. We need to take a long hard look at how we maximise accountability and stop the court being used as a system to re-victimise victims.”
The inquest had previously heard Anderson was clever and “calculated” in the way he manipulated the court system to avoid arrest.
Since being appointed police commissioner in 2011, Lay has consistently spoken about family violence and the need to hold abusers to account, including through ridding the police force of sexist and predatory men.
Batty was expected to address the court on Thursday afternoon. The inquest continues.



Topics



Crime - Australia




Victoria




Domestic violence




Australian police and policing




Luke Batty








Share on Facebook







Share on Twitter







Share via Email







Share on LinkedIn







Share on Google+







Share on WhatsApp



















 






related content












popular












 








The Guardian






back to top














home




US




world
selected




opinion




sports




soccer




tech




arts




lifestyle




fashion




business




money




travel




environment







all sections
close







home




US




world
selected




UK




europe




americas




asia




middle east




africa




australia
selected






opinion




sports




soccer




MLS




NFL




MLB




NBA




NHL






soccer




live scores




tables




competitions




results




fixtures




clubs






tech




games






arts




movies




tv & radio




music




books




art & design




stage




classical






lifestyle




food




health




love & sex




family




women




home & garden






fashion




business




markets




companies






money




travel




USA




europe




UK






environment




development




cities






science




media




crosswords




video











World




›
Australia




›
Crime - Australia








jobs

subscribe
all topics
all contributors

info and resources

contact us

feedback

complaints & corrections
terms & conditions
privacy policy
cookie policy
securedrop


© 2015 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.






















 
