Man considered dangerous understood to have escaped from Canterbury hospital
A man who was missing for more than four hours had absconded from a mental health facility, it is understood.
Canterbury police released a statement about 9pm on Thursday appealing for information about the 35-year-old who had absconded from the care of another agency.
Police had been notified about 6pm that the man was missing.
They said he was dangerous and shouldn't be approached.
The man was found about 10pm.
It is understood the man absconded from Hillmorton Hospital. He was found about 6km away from the mental health facility.
Health New Zealand has been approached for comment.
The incident comes three years after Hillmorton forensic mental health patient Zakariye Mohamed Hussein murdered Laisa Waka Tunidau as she walked home from work.
Hussein was on community leave at the time of the killing.
Two reviews were ordered, one into Hussein's care, and another looking at Canterbury District Mental Health Services.
In June another Hillmorton mental health patient, Elliot Cameron was sentenced in the High Court at Christchurch to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 10 years for murdering 83-year-old Frances Anne Phelps, known as Faye in October last year.
Following his sentencing a suppression order was lifted allowing it to be reported Cameron killed his brother Jeffrey Cameron in 1975. A jury found him not guilty of murder by reason of insanity and he was detained as a special patient.
Cameron was made a voluntary patient at Hillmorton Hospital in 2016, and then in October last year murdered Phelps, striking her with an axe.
Emails from Cameron to his cousin Alan Cameron sent over more than a decade, detailed his concerns that he might kill again.
In response to the revelations, Chief Victims Advisor Ruth Money said it was hard to see Phelps' death as "anything other than preventable".
It was earlier revealed another case involving a man who was made a special patient under the Mental Health Act after his first killing was recently found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity for a second time, after killing someone he believed was possessed.
After that article, Money called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into forensic mental health facilities.
After Cameron's first killing was revealed, Money said she stood by her recommendation.
"The public deserves an inquiry that can give actionable expert recommendations, as opposed to multiple Coroners inquests and recommendations that do not have the same binding influence. The patients themselves, and the public will be best served by an independent inquiry, not another internal review that changes nothing."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
7 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Police deal with surge in theft reports as tech company upskills stores
Police were alerted in March to the "shift" in "behaviour" by Auckland firm Auror. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller Thousands more theft reports are being loaded every month into police investigation systems that are already under stress. The surge in reports comes as a high-tech company - which partners with police and retailers to identify vehicle number plates - started upskilling shops on grabbing officers' attention. Internal documents show police were alerted in March to the "shift" in "behaviour" by Auckland firm Auror. "Auror has developed a better understanding of our case management process", teaching retailers to provide sharper CCTV footage of offenders, copies of receipts, even "names, dates of birth, and ages" where they could, according to a police report in March, newly released to RNZ. Auror, which last month won kudos from the UK government, said it was a good thing. "Police being able to solve more crime through high quality crime reports, which they are doing, is a good thing for all Kiwis," the firm told RNZ. But a subsequent police audit of 380 Auror theft cases in March showed a large number were eventually not investigated, the report said - cautioning though that this was just a single audit. "Exacerbating this issue is the surge in Auror reporting," it said. Auror theft reports had doubled from 4000 a month in 2022 to 8000 in 2025. Overall Auror crime reports in the same period doubled to 12,000 a month, and 11,000 in 2025, police said. Police are also expecting a 60 percent jump in shoplifting case numbers due to their new move to dump cash thresholds, as RNZ has revealed . Police told RNZ they were moving to introduce a new initial assessment and victim support team, and new ways to assess cases early on. Thousands of retailers nationwide connect their CCTV cameras to Auror's automated number plate recognition (ANPR) system. The system works two ways, sending crime reports to police, and handling police inquiries, such as where a vehicle has been spotted over the past 60 days. Police use of this and a second ANPR system has quadrupled since 2020 to 700,000 times a year. It is increasingly used in evidence in court -legal challenges over privacy were dismissed last year by two courts. Law enforcement's embrace of new technology has created opportunities, pressure and controversy worldwide. The rising theft reports show New Zealand is not immune. Earlier this year, police realised far fewer theft reports were ending up in their too-hard basket, called "early case closure" (ECC). "A critical analysis... reveals that Auror theft files are driving demand," Superintendent Blair Macdonald said in the March report. "With better information provided upfront and more lines of inquiry identified, a significantly higher percentage of files are meeting the IFA (Initial File Assessment) solvability threshold." About 97 percent were getting over the threshold, compared to the 69 percent before. A dismissal rate of 31 percent had dropped to just three percent. From the police figures, RNZ has estimated the number tripled from about 2800 to about 7700, a month that other officers then had to look into. The extra files that scored over seven for "solvability" were then sent on to the front line file managment team (FFMT). This team has been under pressure - its case-closed system of reports that needed filing was backlogged with 66,000 cases in January, the internal report said. Various OIAs have shown the "solvability threshold" dates back years but had varied widely between districts. Some dropped thefts under $100, when for others the threshold was $500; some would only look at repeat offenders; while Auckland city police required Auror involvement if they were to investigate shoplifting, a document said. Police began moving in 2024 to standardise the thresholds nationwide. But instead, after [ RNZ's revelations of the dollar-value thresholds in May, police have dumped that threshold. This will increase the number of cases going to the FFMT. Auror told RNZ it had not changed its software "in any way that would encourage more or less reporting to police". "Police is world-leading in its use of many types of technology and it determines how best to accept and handle reports of crime. "Retailers determine what to report, not Auror," said Auror senior director trust and safety Nick McDonnell, in a statement. But Auror's marketing regularly tells retailers it has new crime-fighting processes. In February it introduced 'Collaborate', stating that this would help retailers jointly target the same "person of interest" in a way "which helps strengthen the case for prosecution and preventing reoffending". Police said in the March report that Auror confirmed to them that "ongoing customer engagement, upskilling, and training are integral to their routine practice with retailers". The UK government last month told businesses to use Auror more to catch thieves and stem anti-social behaviour. This is part of moves to also spread facial recognition technology more widely. Auror says it does not use facial recognition. The New Zealand government recently said a centralised system of retailer facial recognition should be looked at . The rising case pressure centres on high-volume crimes of theft, shoplifting, petrol drive-offs and fraud. RNZ asked police if the audit of 380 Auror cases suggested new inefficiencies had been created. Their March report had stated: "192 (50.5 percent) do not meet the District rules for further investigation." Another 29, or 7.6 percent, were "inactivated". Only 159 - 42 percent of the 380 - were forwarded on to districts. Police did not address this in their statement on Friday. However, they had been forced to anaylse the Auror theft surge more. "Further analysis is currently underway to gain a deeper understanding of this complex and nuanced data," Macdonald told bosses in March. On Friday, police told RNZ their retail crime units or operations that were now in most districts were "having an impact on retail theft, but we know there is still more to be done". A new "initial file investigation" team to manage increased retail theft and petrol drive-offs would be trialed in Counties Manukau; they were also developing a standardised inquiry file template and enhanced case management reporting tools. RNZ has sought an update on the police analysis since March of ANPR theft reports. Police also use a second ANPR system, run by the company SaferCities, where usage has skyrocketed . The SaferCities ANPR is now also part of a NZTA trial using cameras in billboards to combat fraudulently issued warrants of fitness, as RNZ revealed last week. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Police miss deadline to detect and delete unlawful photos once again
Police lack an overall digital evidence handling system, and, so far, the funding to get one. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller Police have again missed a deadline to make certain they are not handling photos of people unlawfully. They had till the end of June to find a way to detect and delete all unlawfully collected material in their systems. An update showed they told Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster in March they would miss the deadline. Police were also meant to come up with a failsafe way to not use the photos in any way until they find and delete them all, but had not managed to do that either. RNZ in 2020 first exposed how police for years were wrongly collecting photos and fingerprints from the public, particularly young Māori. Webster said he was still deciding what to do next. "Not meeting the final requirements means the police has not complied fully with the notice," he said in a statement. "The commissioner is currently considering next steps ... including seeking further information to inform those next steps." Police lack an overall digital evidence handling system, and, so far, the funding to get one. Police have been approached for comment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
14 hours ago
- RNZ News
Mt Eden prisoner killed was 46-year-old Robert Norman Fitzpatrick from Whangārei
An inmate was killed at Auckland's Mt Eden Corrections Facility on 27 June. Photo: RNZ/Calvin Samuel The Mt Eden prisoner who was killed just over a month ago has been named as Robert Norman Fitzpatrick of Whangārei. Fitzpatrick, 46, died at the corrections facility after an 'incident' at the prison on 27 June. A 32-year-old man has been arrested and charged with the murder. RNZ earlier revealed that both men, who were in a double-bunked cell, were known to mental health services. The victim had recently been in a mental health unit in Whangārei as part of a compulsory treatment order and was in custody after breaching bail, and the murder-accused had a history with mental health services. His father told RNZ he was jailed in relation to breaching the conditions of a restraining order. He was eventually released and spent two weeks in a mental health facility in Whangārei before he was granted electronically-monitored bail to an apartment. He said that while at the mental health facility his son's medication was changed and he was "making good progress". However, he breached his conditions again and was arrested, spending three days in Northland Region Corrections Facility before being moved to Mt Eden. The victim's father had been told that the alleged killer had a history with mental health services. He wants to know why the two men were placed in the same cell. "It was a complete failure of the duty of care to my son." He said growing up his son was a "good sportsman", but struggled holding down a job as he got older due to his mental health. "But we were hoping that with the new treatment he had, that he might improve there. It was just his mental health which held him back." He believed his son's mental health problems were "treatable". The killing came nine months after Andrew Chan Chui died at the prison. A 23-year-old inmate, who shared a double-bunk cell with Chan Chui, has been charged with murdering him. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
