Christie Marceau inquest: Emotional detective gives evidence about bail

A detective today gave evidence at the inquest into the death of Christie Marceau (pictured) about his advice to her family on precautions to take if Akshay Chand breached his bail. Photo / File

The officer who arrested and charged Akshay Chand for kidnapping and assaulting Christie Marceau two months death in her North Shore home has given evidence at her inquest.

Detective Adam Iremonger gave evidence at the inquest into Christie's death in the Auckland District Court today.

The inquest is in its second day.

Christie was killed by Chand in November 2011.

He was on bail and facing charges of earlier kidnapping and assaulting Christie.

The 18-year-old stabbed Christie repeatedly in her family home and she died in her mother Tracey's arms on their deck.

Tracey Marceau called police as soon as Chand barged into the Hillcrest house, but by the time they arrived it was too late.

Iremonger said he had been involved in Chand's case from the time he was arrested for kidnapping, threatening to rape and assaulting Christie in September 2011.

He then worked on the police opposition to bail document that was to be used in October when Chand appeared before Judge David McNaughton.

Iremonger communicated with police prosecutor Adam Pell, who gave evidence earlier today.

"I voiced my concern that Chand had a pending bail application hearing and it was imperative that he did not receive court bail," he said.

When Chand was granted bail Iremonger called Christie's mother, Tracey Marceau, to advise her.

"I apologised to her for the unsatisfactory bail conditions and said that we, as police, did everything we could to oppose Chand's bail," Iremonger said, his voice breaking.

He took a long pause before continuing,

"During the conversation Tracey asked me if Chand was likely to go over to their home

"I answered 'not likely but at the same time you could not rule it out as no one really knows what these people are thinking and there is still a risk he could go over'.

"I told her that although he is on 24-hour curfew he could probably still get there before police.

"I advised her to be vigilant and if he did happen to go over to keep the door closed and locked and make the rest of the house secure."

Iremonger became emotional during his evidence, explaining that he went to meet with Christie and her parents on October 24 2011 and speak to them about what to do if Chand did come to their home.

He then went to Chand's address and spoke to the offender about his bail conditions.

"Chand stated that he had been on his medication and he had been abiding by his bail conditions,' Iremonger told the inquest.

"He said the police had been checking on him two or three times through the night."

Iremonger was away from work when he was given the terrible news about Christie's death.

"I was at home on annual leave and received a text message advising that Akshay Chand had just murdered Christie."

Christie's father Brian Marceau was in Australia working when she was brutally slain.

Iremonger said he had a conversation with the worried father about whether he should go back to his job after Chand was bailed, or stay in New Zealand.

"I recall this conversation," Iremonger said.

"I did advise Mr Marceau that I did not think that was necessary (to delay his return to work.

"During that conversation I repeated my advice regarding basic precautions they should take if Chand breached his bail and came to the address - to ensure the property was secure, not to open the door and to ring police immediately."

On the day Christie died Chand knocked on the door before 7am.

Tracey Marceau thought the knock was coming from a courier delivering something Christie had purchased online.

She opened the door and Chand, armed with a kitchen knife, barged in, pushing past her to get to her daughter.

Christie woke, came out of her bedroom to see what the commotion was and saw Chand in the hallway.

The teenager ran, heading down the stairs to the lower deck.

Chand caught up with her and stabbed her multiple times.

After calling 111 Tracey Marceau went to the deck and found Christie slumped on the ground.

She held Christie as she took her final breaths.

Chand walked away and stood, waiting for police.

The inquest heard earlier that Iremonger and Pell had exchanged emails in the lead-up to Chand being granted bail.

Police "strongly", "vigorously" and repeatedly voiced concerns over Chand being released as they believed he was a danger to Christie.

Pell earlier told the inquest that the possibility of Chand being granted bail "in any form" had been "greatly" concerning.