Coroner yet to rule on 1997 death of two-year-old

A Whakatane family is demanding to know why the tragic death of their daughter nearly eight years ago has still not been resolved by the Rotorua coroner.

Two-year-old Irani Danielle Tumanako was found dead in June 1997 halfway down a children's slide with a piece of string around her neck.

A coroner's hearing was held in July 1999 before Rotorua coroner David Dowthwaite, but the finding has still not been released.

The girl's family want to know why their daughter's death appears to have been swept under the carpet.

Police involved in the case are also puzzled at the extraordinary delay.

Irani was found on the small slide at Te Kohanga Reo O Ruatahuna, near Murupara, with a piece of nylon string around her neck.

The inquest in 1999 revealed the little girl and others at the kohanga reo had been left unsupervised playing for more than hour. They went outside to play about 12.30pm and Irani's body was found on the slide at 1.55pm.

A kohanga reo staff member told the inquest there was usually at least one adult with the children when they were outside but on this day there was nobody. No one could give an explanation why no-one was supervising the children.

That night, someone set fire to the kohanga reo. Police believed it was in retribution but no-one was ever arrested.

The nylon string, similar to a boot lace, was tied to the top of the slide. The staff member said at the hearing the string had been there about a week and it could have been used by the children to pull themselves up the slide.

Murupara police officers who worked on the case, Constable Eric Grace and former constable Kevin Scanlon, said during their evidence they had contacted Te Kohanga Reo National Trust Board about the incident and had asked that an internal investigation be conducted.

No such investigation was ever carried out and police only received kohanga reo guidelines after numerous requests.

No-one from the trust board returned calls this week and no-one could be reached at Te Kohanga Reo O Ruatahuna.

Irani's mother, Lynette Tumanako, said the family was doing a lot better now and she had had more children.

However, she was upset her daughter's case was not over.

She said she did not understand the Coroner's Court process and thought the matter was over after the hearing in 1999. She did not initially realise the coroner had to issue a finding.

"It's quite upsetting to know now there hasn't been any closure for it."

Mr Scanlon said if it was his child at the centre of the case, he would want to know why it had taken so long.

"Surely there must be some form of monitoring procedure to not allow it to take so long. It needs to be addressed. It needs to be concluded for the family's sake. I just can't understand why it's taken so long."

Mr Dowthwaite said there would be a finding but he had not finished it.

He said he regretted the delay and would complete an official explanation within the next week.

He was reluctant to go into detail about the delay, other than to say the reasons were "complex".

He said he had a number of findings to complete and expected them to be released shortly.

- NZPA