Photo: Supplied / NZ Herald
A psychology professor has told Coroner's Court in Christchurch she believes Nicole Tuxford's murder could have been prevented.
Dr Devon Polaschek was an expert witness today in the joint inquest into the rape and murder of Tuxford and the suspected suicide of Gary Schroder, the father of Tainui's first victim, Kimberley Schroder.
"People [had] information that could've been used to prevent this tragedy [Tuxford's murder]. If we look back even to [Kimberley Schroder's murder], we see that the victim was telling people she was being stalked, that she was frightened he would kill her and so on," she said.
"Things can be done when that information surfaces... and it's passed on to the right people."
Nicole Tuxford's murder could have been prevented, the Coroner's Court has heard. Photo: Supplied
Polaschek said it was frustrating to hear Tainui's workmates knew of his threats to burn down Tuxford's house and observed his behaviour becoming steadily more obsessive towards her, but did not mention it to their manager or Corrections.
Corrections clinicians had also failed to address the sexual components of Tainui's offending during his 13-year prison sentence, she noted.
"The other thing that was clearly lost by the psychologists and picked up by the Parole Board was that the sexual components [of Tainui's offending] had not been addressed."
Multiple Corrections psychologists also repeatedly gave Tainui a low-risk assessment, which Polaschek thought would have prevented him reaching the criteria needed to take part in sexual offending treatment.
Tainui did not have the opportunity to be placed into some of his known high-risk situations, like intimate relationships, while taking part in psychiatric sessions in prison, she added.
Polaschek likened this to being taught to swim without touching water.
"Prison doesn't do certain things well at all. In prison, no matter how much he was treated, he would not have been exposed to the risk factors that could have created the circumstances for another murder of this type."
But she believed, given the information available to staff at the time, and the limitations of tests used, his low-risk classification was right.
"Many of our risk assessment instruments would therefore count him as a non-reoffender because they don't go [for seven years, the time Tainui was out on parole]. The follow-ups are not that long, they're often only four or five years and therefore, calling him low-risk would have been statistically correct."
The inquest continues tomorrow.
