In what New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has described as an “incredibly distressing and concerning” case, an 11-year-old, non-verbal girl was taken by police to a mental health facility where she was handcuffed and given psychiatric drugs.
He wants to know why ministers were only informed of the incident after an inquiry from the media on the afternoon of March 21, two weeks after it occurred—a delay he called “unacceptable.”
Police were called to a bridge in Hamilton around 6:40 a.m. on Sunday, March 9, after a person described as a female in her 20s was seen climbing onto the railings.
“Fearing for her safety, police units, including a police boat, responded immediately, and staff attempted to speak to the female,” said acting Waikato district commander Superintendent Scott Gemmell.
Gemmell said the young girl got into a patrol car without requiring assistance or force and was not handcuffed at that stage, but upon arriving at the hospital, “her behaviour caused further concern for her safety, and officers made the decision to place her in handcuffs, which was done without force.”
It’s understood she was injected with two doses of the anti-psychotic medicine haloperidol, commonly used to treat schizophrenia.
Health New Zealand Deputy Chief Executive for the Central North Island region, Cath Cronin, said police advised hospital staff they had identified the young girl as a missing patient, aged 20, who was subject to community treatment orders under the Mental Health Act.
It was around 12 hours after police responded to the bridge incident that a mother reported her 11-year-old daughter was missing.
“Police staff immediately disseminated information about [the missing child], including a photo to all staff, as she was considered a vulnerable missing person due to her age and several other factors,” Gemmell said.
“One staff member recognised her as the female who had been picked up from the Fairfield Bridge early that morning, and her family was immediately contacted and advised of her location.”
Every Parent’s ‘Worst Nightmare’
Luxon told journalists that he found the incident “incredibly concerning.”“As a parent, you identify with what is a horrific set of circumstances that has happened, and it’s just incredibly distressing and concerning,” he said.
He said he expected the two reviews to uncover what had happened.
“There’s now an inquiry underway, [and] I know it’s got the full attention of [Health Minister] Simeon Brown; he’s all over it.”
Asked whether officials should face consequences if they were found to have failed, Luxon said: “By all means, there should be accountability in the system.”
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey said he had spoken to Health NZ Acting Chief Executive Dale Bramley to say, “That was, quite frankly, not good enough. But the serious incident review is underway, and I expect to keep updated on how that review is going.”
Doocey described the incident as “every parent’s worst nightmare” but said he'd received assurances that she was “well at home” and not suffering from any side effects from the injections.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell defended the officers involved ahead of the inquiry’s findings, claiming they had tried to check the girl’s identification with “someone who knew her” but that she was still misidentified.
He also did not criticise the delay in informing him or the officers’ actions in handling the girl.
“All our police officers were trying to do was care for an 11-year-old that was out on the streets, that was non-verbal, that was standing on a bridge with who knows what the intent was,” he said.
“Unfortunately, through the process, she was misidentified, but let me be really clear: the police, in my view, from the minute they received a call from members of the public to say they were very concerned about this young woman’s situation, have done nothing but try to support and care for her, including taking to the hospital.”
Health New Zealand has apologised for what they acknowledge was a “traumatic experience,” while police say they acted in the best interests of keeping someone safe.
