Tuesday, August 13
Lachie Jones could have suffered a serious head injury and shown subtle external signs that were missed at autopsy, a paediatrician says.
Dr Carmen Basu, a paediatrician who had experience in the children’s emergency department at Starship Hospital, gave evidence that Lachie could have walked to the oxidation ponds in bare feet.
It was unusual for children to drown in shallow water, but water up to Lachie’s neck may have caused him to panic and lose balance.
The possible scenarios for Lachie included: something pulled him under the water, he had a medical event, he was held under the water or he had a head injury which caused him a concussion or instant death.
The witness explained Lachie might have been exploring the water, slipped backwards and hit his head and died instantly or drowned.
There were subtle signs of a head injury which the pathologist who completed Lachie’s autopsy might have missed because his head was not internally examined, she said.
"Children often do not have external signs of head injury at presentation.
"Sometimes the bruising doesn’t look significant but the underlying injury can be."
Dr Basu did not think there were signs of Lachie being neglected.
Nappy rash and respiratory conditions were common in New Zealand.
She was not concerned that Lachie was still breastfeeding and in nappies.
It was possible for a child his age to climb over the fence near the oxidation ponds.
"It’s the same height as most slides in playgrounds.
"Preschoolers are risk takers by nature."
Statistically, it was most likely Lachie drowned, as accidents were among the most common causes of death in children.
The fact that Lachie walked the distance on his own and was found face up were unusual aspects of the case, Dr Basu said.
Post Haste driver Nick Khan gave evidence that he did not believe Lachie’s mother, Michelle Officer, was at the Gore depot on January 29, 2019, as she claimed she was.
In the afternoons he would spend most of his time at the depot and only complete deliveries for less than 20 minutes at a time.
Ms Officer said she was at the depot for 25 minutes from 4.55pm.
At 5.20pm she sent a text to her son saying "at depot, blocked in".
"Nobody can get blocked in in there. It’s a massive open yard," Mr Khan said.
It was possible that he was on a delivery while Ms Officer was at the depot, but did not think it was likely because there were packages outside when he arrived back which he thought Ms Officer would have moved if she were there.
Data from package scanners showed multiple packages were scanned at 4.55pm, at two locations that were 3km apart.
Two scanners could not be logged in simultaneously under the same employee code without one being automatically logged out.
Therefore he did not think it was possible Ms Officer was working at one location while Mr Jones scanned packages elsewhere.
The witness thought one explanation could be that the scanner froze and only recorded the packages had been scanned once it was docked at the depot.
Gore District Council’s three waters operations manager, Aaron Green, gave evidence about the depth, makeup and slope of the oxidation pond.
Sometimes a white foam formed around the edge of the pond, he said.
