Police cleared of misconduct despite ‘inadequate’ response to fatal assault

Officers who drove past a woman as she lay dead or dying nearly an hour after receiving a Triple Zero call have been cleared of wrongdoing by the police watchdog in a report which criticised NSW Police for an “inadequate” and “misleading” response to her assault.

Lindy Lucena was killed by her partner, Robert Huber, less than 600 metres from a police station in Ballina, in the Northern Rivers region, on January 3, 2023. Despite a Triple Zero call alerting police to a “bashing”, her body was only discovered five hours later after Huber confessed to police.

The series of failures in responding to Lucena’s death was investigated by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission following a formal complaint by Greens MP Sue Higginson.

The watchdog’s findings, released on Tuesday, identified a series of systemic issues in the police response, but concluded that no individual failures amounted to serious misconduct.

“There is no doubt that police have a difficult job to do,” the report stated, adding while it is “inevitable” not every job will be resolved positively, sometimes “police make mistakes” and that “biases or frustrations may lead to police misconduct”.

“Any one job may mean the difference between life and death. But to police on the ground, it may not be apparent which job that will be. All jobs need to be undertaken with appropriate diligence.”

The watchdog also rejected a claim made by Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon that Higginson had “tarnished the reputation of hard-working officers”, as well as suggestions by Lanyon’s legal counsel that the watchdog’s investigation was “unnecessary”.

“The Commissioner[’s] submissions on this point were misconceived,” the report states.

The night Lucena died, police received a Triple Zero call stating “a man [was] bashing the hell out of his woman at the back of the Salvation Army in Ballina”. The call was logged at 7.03pm and incorrectly categorised as a welfare concern, rather than the higher-priority category of assault.

Instead of being broadcast to officers within 90 seconds, it was delayed by seven minutes and broadcast at 7.10pm. It was also rebroadcast only twice, rather than every 60 seconds as required.

Officers, who were stretched thin on a busy night, would probably have attended earlier had the incident been broadcast more frequently, the report found.

Chronic understaffing was a major concern in the region, with the watchdog highlighting the seven vacancies for communications officers, which are not expected to be filled until the current class of recruits graduates.

The commission also found police made an “unsafe assumption” in presuming the assault “was not serious or had stopped” because just one Triple Zero call had been received.

Another officer didn’t attend the incident as he was directing traffic following a minor car accident, which he believed was a higher priority to prevent further crashes.

At 7.55pm, two officers in separate cars drove down Holden Lane. They paused briefly, but left after just three-and-a-half minutes. The commission questioned why neither got out of their cars, even though there were no other priority jobs, and it would have only taken a minute.

“By not leaving their cars, the officers missed the opportunity to hear or see something that may have led to further information about the reported assault,” the report states.

The officers told the commission they regretted their decision. “I wish things had not happened the way that they did happen,” one officer said.

Despite hearing evidence that Lucena may have still been alive when the police cars drove past, the commission did not examine whether her life could have been saved had the officers left their vehicles.

At 12.30am, Huber arrived at Ballina police station with blood on his hands and shirt, telling the same officer who had driven past Lucena’s body that his “missus is dead”.

Huber led police to her body, which was discovered among “items of clothing, baggage and other bric-a-brac strewn around”.

The commission was critical of senior police’s decision not to declare a critical incident, which would have triggered an independent police investigation. Acting Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman acknowledged this was a “mistake” but was cleared of serious misconduct.

When the commission requested the critical incident paperwork, the NSW Police’s Professional Standards Command said it was under “no obligation” to provide it. The commission found this was “misleading” given no documentation existed.

The watchdog made eight recommendations, including four directly to Lanyon, urging him to launch an urgent review of the police radio room, provide training on the critical incident guidelines, and bolster procedures for declaring a critical incident.

“Whether an event warrants a critical incident declaration, then the balance would tip in favour of declaration, for reasons of transparency, impartiality, probity and integrity,” the report states.

Richmond District Commander Scott Tanner told the commission his thoughts were with Lucena’s family following the “horrific crime”.

“This is an absolute tragedy. As a commander, I take these things very personally,” he said.

“This lady went through absolute hell.”

Huber was sentenced to 12 years in prison for manslaughter and will be eligible for parole in July 2032.

If you or anyone you know needs support, call the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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