‘Incredibly irresponsible behaviour’ – Minister in charge weighs in on managed isolation escape

It was a desperate act by a desperate family, a mother and four teenaged children broke out of Hamilton’s Distinction Hotel last night.

A window was forced open, broken off its security latches and then a six foot fence was climbed.

A premeditated and planned attempt to break the law and leave the managed facility.

Four of the five, including the mother, didn’t get far and were located within an hour at a nearby park.

It would be a further 10 hours until authorities picked up a 17-year-old boy in Auckland.

The reason they rushed back home to New Zealand from Australia was to attend today’s funeral in South Auckland of the woman’s former partner, who was the children’s father.

The 39-year-old man died on Monday following a stroke.

The family arrived in the country on Tuesday and immediately applied for a compassionate exemption to attend the funeral.

In her appeal to officials, the woman stated ‘my children watched as their father took his last breaths through a video call. It’s hard to express the severe impact it’s had on my children and to see their dad one last time before they close the casket would mean the world to them’.

“She was was trying everything to get the kids back to the dad, my son,” the deceased man's father told 1 NEWS.

The family’s request for exemption was turned down because the health risk was deemed to high. At the time of the request the family had not yet conducted a day three test. That Covid test was done and results came back negative yesterday afternoon.

The head of managed isolation says the family were then told a further request to view the body ahead of the funeral was being looked at favourably.

“They would have been granted an exemption, a special exemption, to go view the body in very tightly managed circumstances and then would have been escorted back to the facility,” says Air Commodore Darryn Webb.

More on this topic

'A premeditated and planned attempt to break the law' - Alleged absconders jumped fence in attempt to see dead relative

A mum and four young people climbed a fence to escape managed isolation in Hamilton.

Crime and Justice

July 25, 2020

The family escaped and fell short of their ultimate goal of seeing their loved one.

Four of the five family members have been charged with leaving a managed isolation facility and appeared in court today.