The parents accompanied Kohen in a vehicle driven by a funeral home employee, arriving at Whangarei close to 2am. A technician took the body from them and more than 13 hours later, at about 3.30pm, it was returned to the parents. They were told a visual examination had been completed and X-rays had been taken, but a post-mortem would not be required.
"It is totally unacceptable that it took so long for a decision to be made, only for that decision to be changed in Whangarei after another 12 hours, without a word of explanation," Mr Campbell said.
"There was never any need for a post-mortem in the first place. His injuries were obvious ... What on earth was to be gained by a post-mortem? And what on earth do these people think they are doing putting a grieving family through this sort of torture?
"All these delays, especially under these circumstances, leave a scar on the wound. We went through enough trauma and grief without this."
Mr Campbell said the delay would have been longer had it not been for the "incessant" phone calls made from the funeral home and his threat, made some time after midnight and apparently overheard, the family would take Kohen home without approval.
"We were told the police would be called if we did that," he said.
"The decision to do the post-mortem in Whangarei was made shortly after that."
Mr Campbell did not intend to lodge a formal complaint, because he did not think that would achieve anything, but believed his family's experience was not unusual. "I think people need to know just how badly we are being served though. Maybe speaking out will encourage others to do the same, and maybe it will achieve some good."
Chief Coroner's Office spokesman Steve Corbett said no specific comment could be made while the case remained before the coroner but any issues surrounding "this tragic death" would be addressed in the course of the coronial inquiry.
"Because we deal with them every day, we are acutely aware of the needs of grieving families and whanau, but we operate on a no-mistakes basis, especially when there is any possibility of criminal proceedings," he said.