Waitomo mayor John Robertson has spoken of his sadness at being unable to help broker a deal to bring fugitive Marokopa father Tom Phillips and his three children home without bloodshed.
Phillips, who fled into the bush with his three children in 2021 after a custody dispute, was shot and killed by police at around 3.20am on Monday. Police were alerted when Phillips, who was with a daughter, burgled the Piopio branch of PGG Wrightson.
The pair fled on a quadbike which came to a stop at road spikes placed by police near the junction of Te Anga Road and Waipuna Roads. Phillips shot an officer in the head and the shoulder before another office shot at Phillips, killing him.
The officer, who police had not named at the time of The News going to press, is recovering in Waikato Hospital with his family at his side. Police commissioner Richard Chambers said the rural Waikato constable had served New Zealand Police for three years.
“Tom did the wrong thing,” Robertson told The News on Tuesday. “We were all worried this might happen. I’ve always felt as time went on the risk of a bad outcome increased. I don’t know Tom’s mental state, but clearly, he was in a bad place.
“I had aways wished that a way through this, negotiating, was possible.”
Robertson said he had approached Children’s Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad last year in the hope that she could bring the family court and police together to negotiate with Phillips.
“I tried to find a way through, but we never got there, she told me she had no authority under the law.”
Voice shaking with emotion, Robertson said: “We had tragedy to start the day, then huge concern over whether the other two children would be found that day, and then huge relief just before 6pm when police told us they had found the other two children.”
Robertson paid tribute to the constable who had driven the remote road in the early hours.
“It’s a pretty brave constable,” he said. “They’ve been through four years of frustration, trying to find Tom.
Of the children being found he spoke of a huge relief. “Everyone in the community wanted the best for the children. No one wanted the outcome that we saw with the tragic shootings.”
Project Piopio Trust postponed Monday’s meet the candidates night for a week “out of respect for recent events affecting the local community”.
“The Project Piopio Trust felt it was important to take a thoughtful pause and hopes the new date will allow even more residents to attend.”
Meanwhile, in Ōtorohanga, the town’s churches are providing wrapround support for Phillips’ parents Neville and Julie who live in the town
