Key details in the Tom Phillips case cannot be reported yet as media lawyers continue to fight for an injunction to be lifted.
The matter has returned to the High Court at Wellington this morning for parties to argue over whether an injunction should be in place.
It was initially granted on Monday evening last week after lawyer Linda Clark made an urgent oral application on behalf of Tom Phillips’ mother, Julia Phillips.
Tom Phillips was killed in the early hours of September 8 after entering into a shootout with police, during which he critically injured an officer.
The standoff brought to a close a four-year ordeal that gripped the attention of the nation, after Phillips abducted his three children in 2021 and took them into hiding in the wilderness.
Jayda, 12, Maverick, 10, and Ember, 9, were in Oranga Tamariki (OT) custody after being rescued on Monday.
The injunction order was argued in court last week before Justice Helen Cull, who suppressed all reporting of the hearing aside from the fact that it happened and the status of the injunction. She extended the injunction until today, to be argued again.
NZME and other media organisations have opposed the injunction.
At today’s hearing, Justice Cull again suppressed the arguments heard in court, but allowed media to report that procedural matters were discussed and that the order would extend until further order of the court.
Linda Clark, who previously represented former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming in his own injunction case, is a partner at Dentons, specialising in public law, regulatory issues, media law and defamation.
Clark is a former journalist who left the profession in 2006 to study law.
Phillips and his children first went missing in September 2021 for three weeks, and police launched an extensive search operation, including using a plane, helicopter and heat-detecting drones, after his Toyota Hilux was found on Kiritehere Beach.
Phillips returned home at the end of that month and revealed he and the children had been living in dense bush nearby.
Police charged him with causing wasteful deployment of personnel and resources and a court date of January 12, 2022, was set after delays caused by Covid restrictions.
But Phillips and his children disappeared again on December 12, 2021.
Police issued an official warrant for Phillips’ arrest after he failed to appear for his court appearance at Te Kūiti District Court on January 12.
His ute was found by police near the end of the month on Mangatoa Rd near the Mangatoa track, but there was no sign of Phillips or his children.
On February 9, Phillips returned to his family home alone at night and gathered supplies.
This would be the last time he was seen for more than a year.
Phillips allegedly took part in a bank robbery with an accomplice in Te Kūiti that targeted an ANZ branch on Rora St.
A nearby supermarket worker was also shot at when they confronted the robbers.
The pair fled the scene on a black, farm-style motorcycle, according to police.
Phillips was spotted at least three times, including at Pokoro and at Bunnings Warehouses in Melville and Te Rapa.
An altercation also happened between Phillips and another man in Kawhia after the man recognised him.
The next supposed sighting of Phillips happened on November 3, 2023, when CCTV appeared to show him and one of his children breaking into a Piopio superette.
Police also believed he had stolen a red quad bike from a Piopio residence.
There were no sightings of Phillips and his children for nearly a year until pig hunters stumbled across the group on October 3, 2024, in bushland near Marokopa.
The final alleged sighting of Phillips before his death came on August 27, when CCTV showed footage of him breaking into the Piopio superette again, supposedly with one of his children.
Phillips and one of his children broke into a farm supplies store in Piopio and were caught on a quadbike on the intersection of Waipuna and Te Anga Rds.
After a shootout with police, Phillips was killed, and one of his children was found at the scene.
His two other children were then found at a bush campsite about 2km from the scene of the shooting.
Several investigations are underway after last week’s shooting and recovery of the children, including exactly what happened that morning and the movements of the family.
Investigations are also ongoing into whether Phillips received help from people to acquire firearms and different forms of transport.
Police have made it clear that anyone who assisted the runaway father over the past four years would be dealt with accordingly.
Despite evading capture for so long, Phillips had been spotted several times since he disappeared from his family farm.
“Over the last four years, we have covered this terrain, this region a lot,” Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said earlier.
“It’s highly likely that we’ve been very, very close.”
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.