People lauding Tom Phillips as a folk hero are being blasted by the country’s top policeman and the Police Minister, who are reminding people of the criminal behaviour that dominated his time on the run.
“He’s not a hero,” Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast.
“Irrespective of what people’s views may be, whether that’s on himself or other people in the community, we just get on with the job.
“Our priority has always been the safe arrest of Mr Phillips and the safe recovery of the children.”
And Minister of Police Mark Mitchell said Phillips is not somebody the country should celebrate.
“At the end of the day … it was [Phillips] that chose to actually try and kill one of our police officers," Mitchell told Ryan Bridge on Herald NOW.
“He tried to kill police right with his children in the line of fire. That is not the behaviour of a responsible father,” Mitchell said.
“It is not something we should be celebrating as a country; it is something that we should be condemning as displaying all the worst attributes of a father and the way they care for their children.”
In the four years Phillips hid in the bush, he robbed a bank, shot at a member of the public who witnessed a robbery, broke into at least two stores and stole several vehicles.
And when he was found early yesterday morning, Phillips fired a high-powered rifle at a policeman from close range in a desperate last stand, hitting and critically injuring the constable.
Still, a number of people have posted messages of support for Phillips on social media.
“Rip, Tom. You taught your kids how to survive out in the bush and live off the land in those four years. You should be proud of that for teaching them at a young age. That’s solid as,” one social media user said.
Said another: “Did they have to kill this guy? What crime did he commit other than removing his children from the insane world we live in?”
And another commenter said: “He didn’t harm anyone.”
“One way or another, the system takes a dad away from his kids,” somebody else said. “When is the system going to be looked at so this doesn’t keep happening, kids again going without their dad?”
“A national hide-and-seek champion. Today will be remembered in history as the day we lost a good one, a bloke that captured the nation, the Where’s Wally? of New Zealand,” another said.
Chris Budge, a private investigator who tried tracking down Phillips, said he had even seen public discourse from some wishing ill of the policeman Phillips shot and injured.
“I find that absolutely disgusting. We have circumstances where, I have said from the very start, a father has absconded, has abducted his children away from the wider family group, and it’s not just the father’s decision.
“It’s more around removing choice and socialisation for those children and hiding away from everybody,” Budge told Newstalk ZB’s Early Edition.
“I think those people [voicing support] are wrong and need to take a really big chill pill in regards to what our New Zealand society is all about.
“It’s about being together, being with families, and giving children the best opportunities that they could have.”
The policeman leading the case, Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Saunders, has spoken to the Herald about the saga in the past, saying police believed Phillips’ motive was over custody of his children.
“We believe it’s over custody, I know there’s been various opinions out there, including the fact that it may be Covid-related,” Saunders said in October 2024.
“From our point of view, this is straight up about custody of the children.”
Saunders said at the time that Phillips “had lawful custody” when he first went missing. He no longer had custody when Saunders spoke in October 2024.
“I’ve seen a lot of opinions where people just don’t believe he’s committed any offences and he’s doing what’s best for his children.
“But we’ve said all along these aren’t the actions of a good father.”
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.