A critical incident inquiry will look into how it took police more than 20 hours after receiving a distress call to locate a dead woman’s body in south-west Sydney.
Around 8 o’clock on Saturday night, the body of the 34-year-old woman was discovered in a unit of a sizable apartment building on Norfolk Street in Liverpool.
Police were originally made aware of the event in the wee hours of the previous evening after a lady who was allegedly being beaten by someone else on the property while they were arguing over money dialed triple-0.
The caller’s name and contact information were not left.
According to Stuart Smith, Assistant Commissioner for the South West Metropolitan Region, officers arrived at the complex at 3 a.m.
He claimed that multiple addresses were associated with the number in each of their databases, making it more difficult for them to find her.
According to Assistant Commissioner Smith, “police arrived… and were presented with 297 units but no obvious offence in front of them.”
Every shift after that was informed about it, and more research was done there.
She wasn’t found until late on Saturday, when police received a second report from someone they believe to be a neighbor.
Danny Zayat, 28, was detained by the police and later charged with stalking/intimidation with the intent to cause fear of bodily harm, violating an AVO ban or restriction, and destroying or damaging property.
He shouldn’t have been there, according to Assistant Commissioner Smith, because they were in a de facto relationship. He hasn’t ruled out filing more accusations.
On Sunday, Mr. Zayat’s request for bail was denied; he must return to Liverpool Local Court on Monday.
Police are working hard, according to Assistant Commissioner Smith, to determine what occurred, and a critical incident investigation would accomplish that.
The homicide investigation is still ongoing, but this morning I was briefed at around 5am, and at 8.40am I announced a critical incident inquiry, he added.
“I can satisfy myself surrounding the triple-0 call response because it is there for me.
The critical incident inquiry will look into the priority assigned to the task, the inquiries made to determine that priority, the investigations made to determine who made the anonymous triple-0 call, as well as the questions made of the police.
Strike Force Midian, which consists of homicide squad members of State Crime Command and detectives from Liverpool City police, is currently conducting investigations.
