Family fight clouds funeral

Daniel Loveridge will be buried today - despite family in-fighting about where the toddler should be laid to rest.

The families of the 13-month-old boy, found dead in a rubbish bag in the boot of a car in the Taranaki town of Stratford on Sunday, were bickering yesterday over where the funeral should be held and in which cemetery the boy should be buried.

Daniel's mother and father were separated at the time of his death.

His paternal grandfather, Bruce Loveridge, said that both sides of Daniel's family had made separate funeral arrangements for the toddler.

But after a lengthy and, at times, fiery meeting between the two sides, a compromise was found.

The boy's funeral will be at the Salvation Army church in New Plymouth at 10 am, after his body is kept overnight at his paternal grandmother's home in Bell Block.

After the funeral, the boy's body is expected to be taken to a house in Eltham to be with his mother's side of the family before being buried at 2.30 pm at the Kopuatama Cemetery in Stratford.

A 21-year-old woman has been charged with the toddler's death and has been remanded for psychiatric examination at the Henry Bennett Centre at Waikato Hospital. She has interim name suppression.

Police were yesterday awaiting results of tissue tests before confirming the cause of death.

It was understood the boy drowned in a bath.

Mr Loveridge was furious that nothing was done by Child, Youth and Family Services, which was involved with Daniel months before his death. He believed Daniel was supposed to be in the agency's care.

"The family is very upset. We tried to get help, but nobody would help us. The amount of times I rang CYF up - half the time I couldn't get anyone ... Now it's too late."

Daniel's aunt, Kelly Loveridge, said she also called the agency often, concerned about her nephew's welfare.

Chief social worker Mike Doolan said that the agency was involved with the family before Daniel's death, but would not say for how long or what that involvement was.

"The death of any child is a tragedy and I will be reviewing our practice in this case. This is standard procedure when a child dies with whom we have been involved.

"Until the police have concluded their investigation, I will not be making any further comment about the circumstances surrounding this case," said Mr Doolan.

Police were still piecing together evidence at two Stratford houses.

Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward said that officers from Wanganui had been called in to help with the case. Eighteen staff were working on the investigation.

Police spent much of yesterday interviewing members of the dead boy's family.

- NZPA