Coroner’s Luke Batty findings
It was the case that dragged Australia’s domestic violence problem into the light, and now the coroner is ready to hand down his findings on Luke Batty’s death.
Victoria’s state coroner Judge Ian Gray will on Monday release his report on the 11-year-old’s tragic death at cricket practice last year.
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Luke was murdered at Tyabb oval on February 12, 2014, by his estranged and mentally ill father 54-year-old Greg Anderson who was then shot dead by police.
Senior police who gave evidence to the coronial inquest said their officers acted properly and Anderson was rated at the low end of a risk scale before that fatal day.
The inquest also heard from Luke’s mum Rosie Batty, who became a tireless anti-domestic violence campaigner and was named 2015 Australian of the Year.
“Greg was mentally ill … He was mad, not bad,” Ms Batty said during the inquest in December.
“I have known him for 20 years and didn’t have the power or capacity to have agencies intervene on his behalf.”
Ms Batty also called for affected families to have more say in risk assessment of perpetrators.
Anderson had four outstanding arrest warrants and two intervention orders when he was shot dead.
He faced charges of assaulting Ms Batty, possessing child pornography and failing to front court.
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said Anderson’s offending was troubling enough for police to monitor him, but it fell short of him being rated as a serious recidivist criminal.
“When I look at recidivist offenders that I’m aware of … Mr Anderson would not have been at the top of that pile,” Mr Cornelius told the inquest.
Victoria Police had made changes to better identify at-risk children like Luke.
“(But) no matter how effective our system might be, no matter how accurate we might be, if a man has murder in his heart … we are not going to be able to prevent those deaths,” Mr Cornelius said.
The coroner will hand down his findings at 10am.