Loved ones, watchdog raise concerns about NSW Police response to Lindy Lucena's fatal bashing

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6 days ago

On the night Lindy Lucena was beaten to death by her abusive partner, Robert Huber, a witness called triple-0 to report "a man was bashing the hell out of this woman" at the location where her body was later found.
Police took almost an hour to respond to the call and when an officer did attend the scene, he did not get out of his patrol car to investigate.
NSW Police maintains its response that night was "appropriate", despite a Supreme Court judge this month finding it was "likely" Ms Lucena was lying just metres from where that patrol car drove past, badly injured or already dead.
Her body was found several hours later when Huber led police back to the scene himself.
Ms Lucena's daughter, who has spoken publicly for the first time to ABC News, called for an independent investigation into the police response on the night her mother was killed.
Her daughter, who does not want to be named, said she believed her mother could have been saved if the officers had taken the triple-0 call more seriously.
"What are they trying to hide in terms of what happened？
"We have to try and avoid situations like this happening again to anyone else."
Her daughter wanted to make it clear she was not criticising the detectives who took on the case after her mother's death.
Huber was charged with murder and faced trial in Coffs Harbour last month.
A judge found Huber not guilty of Ms Lucena's murder, but guilty of manslaughter.
Ms Lucena's recent murder trial laid bare the police response on the night she was killed and raised further questions about why the case was never declared a critical incident, which is an investigation overseen by the police watchdog Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC).
It is a decision NSW Police continues to defend, telling ABC News an internal review of the case shortly after her death found their response was "appropriate".
"At the time the triple-0 call was received, police in the area were attending two incidents of self-harm and a serious motor vehicle crash," a statement said.
"Police attended the scene, however, were unable to locate the 64-year-old woman due to inconsistent information provided to emergency services."
At the time of Ms Lucena's death, the couple were planning to sleep in the courtyard, having left the Ballina caravan park where they had been living for months after being displaced in the 2022 Lismore floods.
In a recording of the triple-0 call, the caller told the operator about 7pm on January 3, 2023: "There's a man bashing the hell out of his woman at the back of the Salvation Army in Ballina."
Ms Lucena was found dead in a courtyard alongside the Salvation Army building in Ballina in the early hours of January 4, 2023.
The LECC told ABC News it asked NSW Police for an explanation as to why a critical incident was never declared, but the force refused to provide its reasons.
"The commission holds concerns about this approach as the commission cannot be satisfied that the discretion was exercised reasonably where the reasons for the decision have not been provided to the commission," the LECC said in a statement.
During the trial, the senior constable who responded to the initial triple-0 call told the court he looked at the area where the caller said a woman was being bashed but "didn't need to leave the car to have what I considered to be a good view of those car parks in Holden Lane".
"My vision was to that fence. I could not see beyond that fence at all," he told the court.
Holden Lane runs behind the Salvation Army building and Ms Lucena's body was found in the courtyard, on the other side of the fence.
Ms Lucena's lifetime friend Ann-Marie Bostick believes NSW Police missed an opportunity to save her life.
"I believe that had they responded, Lindy would still be alive," she said.
"They should've got out of the car, they should've looked … when they get a call about a domestic assault, I believe they should act straight away.
"How is that investigating something, by sitting in your car?"
Hours after the triple-0 call was made, about 12:45am, Huber walked into Ballina Police Station and told officers he had woken to find his partner of six years dead, with no knowledge of how she had died.
In handing down his verdict, Justice Stephen Rothman said "it is likely that the deceased died at or about 7:20pm ... But it may be that she died just after 9:30pm".
He said "unfortunately" the police response at 7:55pm was "unhelpful, because of the misunderstanding as to the location of the 'bashing'".
Justice Rothman said he could not find Huber guilty of murder because he was "not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the accused intended to inflict really serious injury" when he assaulted her.
"However, the assault was an unlawful and dangerous act which a reasonable person in the position of the accused would have realised exposed the deceased to an appreciable risk of serious injury," he wrote.
Ms Lucena's sister Julie Viney, who died last year, previously told ABC News she wanted a critical incident investigation or a coronial inquest into her death.
"I think there's a lot of questions to be asked about this particular case."
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said the case was "deeply distressing" and acknowledged "members of the community have questions about what occurred".
"This matter is still before the courts, and we need to let them do their job," the statement said.
Huber will face a sentencing hearing in September.
Eight days before Ms Lucena's death, Huber was charged with common assault for punching her in the face, causing a black eye.
Huber was granted bail by a court registrar in a local court hearing the following day, despite no fixed address being given to the court.
He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm this year.
Ms Lucena's daughter said the bail decision was a "catalyst" that ultimately led to her mother's death.
In a statement, Acting Attorney-General Kate Washington said the NSW government last year banned registrars from making bail decisions.
"This is one of a number of reforms we've implemented to better protect women from domestic and family violence, and we will continue to look at ways the law can be strengthened," she said.
For Ms Lucena's daughter, her mother's death at the hands of her violent partner left an immeasurable hole in her life.
"My life continues to go on, and she's just not here for the big milestones," she said.
She said her mother was a "joker" who "always saw the funny side of things".
"She was genuinely one of the funnest people you could ever meet," she said.
"She had a heart of gold and would always be there to help her family and friends no matter what."
Ms Bostick said Ms Lucena was "dearly loved" by her family and friends.
"Lindy mattered, and he has taken more than one person's family away," she said.
"It's a huge gap from my life ... I can't pick up the phone and ring her, we would be on the phone several times a day."