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Pressure is mounting for an independent inquiry into how police
handled the Kahui case.
Chris Kahui is now free after jurors effectively took 10 minutes to
find him not guilty of murdering his twin baby boys.
Now former police officers are turning on those who headed the
case, with one saying the probe was too politically correct.
In court, the twin's mother Macsyna King and Chris Kahui were
pitted against each other.
On Friday though, their families were united as they knelt together at the graves of the tiny boys. Watched by the media, the family told ONE News they wanted time out from the spotlight to deal with the not guilty verdict.
They are not the only ones whose actions are under close scrutiny.
"As far as I am concerned, the matter is closed," said Detective Inspector John Tims, the officer in charge of the inquiry, on Thursday.
Tims, said he stands by the decision to charge Kahui, saying it followed a thorough investigation which ruled out any other possible suspect. When asked what went wrong, he said he just couldn't answer that.
Tims also says police can no longer be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff when it comes to child abuse. He says the way forward is for child deaths to be prevented.
Tims says Counties Manukau police are working on a project where police, CYFS and health services will be at the same location. Victims of child abuse, family violence and sexual assault will be able to go to the centre and receive services at one location.
But a retired detective superintendent, Bryan Rowe, says the police cannot leave this high profile case unsolved.
"It just can't be written off. It might be that detective Tims is right, maybe he got it wrong. At the end of the day it needs to be independently reviewed," says Rowe.
New Zealand was stunned by the Kahui case. When the family closed ranks, refusing to talk to police, the pressure was on and it took four months for an arrest.
And a top Auckland lawyer, Gary Gotlieb, is critical of the way the police investigation focused only on Chris Kahui as the main suspect.
"I think he decided that he was the person who did it and they just tunnelled in on that," says Gotlieb.
He says the family exercised their right to remain silent.
But the Children's Commissioner, Cindy Kiro, says it's not too late for someone to talk.
"I understand the desire for loyalty but what they are forgetting is their first loyalty should be to the babies," says Kiro.
She says families need to speak out against abuse and it is shocking no one has been found responsible for the deaths of Chris and Cru Kahui.
Kiro says it is wrong that someone out there knows what actually happened to the babies. She says other family members need to break the ranks of silence and tell Police what happened, instead of trying to protect each other.
The Kahui family's felt the intense police scrutiny for the past two and a half years and they say the police should continue with their investigation so that the shadow can be lifted from the short lives of their babies.
For its part, the Police Association acknowledges the public will be disappointed with the outcome of the Kahui trial.
Association vice-president Stuart Mills says police treat child abuse and family violence very seriously and the public needs to understand that occasionally there are acquittals.
