An Ongoing Tragedy !

The Edwards family lived a life of fear.  Wife Olga and son Jack (15) and daughter Jennifer (13) were careful to keep the address where they were living secret from their estranged husband and father, John. They had endured  constant abuse over a period of time and it was known that John bore ill will towards then.

On July 25, 2008 John Edwards made his move.  He hired a car that would not attract the suspicion of his daughter and waited outside her school and followed her as she left the train and walked home.  When his car turned into her driveway she dropped her school bag and ran inside, seeking the protection of her brother.

Jack and Jennifer tried to hide under a desk but John had a Glock pistol and numerous ammunition clips. He fired repeatedly and seven spent cartridges lay on the floor around the dead children.  John Edwards then drove to his home in Hornsby and ended his own life with that same gun.   Five months later as depression took its toll., Olga took her own life.

This week the New South Wales Coroner delivered her findings.  John Edwards had a long history of violence against his wife and children and this was compounded by similar aggression towards six previous partners and eight children.  This should have been taken into consideration when he applied for a license to buy and own a firearm, but the license was quickly approved.

The Coroner was critical of the Independent Children's Lawyer who represented Jack and Jennifer at the  Family Court proceedings.   She did not regard the risk posed by John Edwards sufficient to grant the children's request that they not spend time with him.

In fact, the  whole system devised to protect children like Jack and Jennifer broke down and the Coroner made twenty-four recommendations in relation to police procedures, gun registration and the role played by the Independent Children's Lawyer,.

The public are left to wonder if John Edwards was " mad " or just " bad ".  Unfortunately life is full of people who live in fear of a previous loving partner with homicidal intent to do them harm and they can not rely on the protection written into the law.

Surely, this tragedy deserves positive action to make it very clear that sloppy handling of issues like the issue of a gun license has consequences..   Someone's signature is on the issue of that license and that should be sufficient for termination of employment.  Dismissal for incompetence would make future employment difficult and that would be a small price to pay for the death of two children.

Few people will seriously expect the findings of the Coroner to bring much change to the  workings of the police.  The police hierarchy will blame the work load and the need for an expanded police budget, but this tragedy would not have happened if the existing rules had been carefully followed,.

All that would change rapidly if job termination was the inevitable outcome of not following the correct procedure where life is at stake !