{"id":406229,"date":"2026-05-01T05:53:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T05:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406229\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T05:53:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T05:53:11","slug":"no-charges-laid-after-probe-into-possible-tom-phillips-accomplices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406229\/","title":{"rendered":"No charges laid after probe into possible Tom Phillips accomplices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Police have concluded the investigation to identify those who may have supported<\/a> Tom Phillips.<\/p>\n

No charges have been laid as a result of the investigation.<\/p>\n

Detective Superintendent Ross McKay said any prosecution is required to meet an evidential sufficiency test under the Solicitor General’s Prosecution Guidelines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this case, based on current admissible evidence, that test has not been met and police will not be filing any charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have always said that we believe Phillips was assisted by a small group of people at varying stages.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharges may be possible at a later date, if or when further information comes to light.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Phillips family had been notified earlier this week.<\/p>\n

Phillips went on the run with his children in December 2021<\/a>, living rough in dense Waikato bush for four years. He died after opening fire on police on September 8 last year.<\/p>\n

The fuguitive father was with one of his children at the scene of the fatal shooting and had three firearms with him. A further five firearms were found at the main camps.<\/p>\n

During the shootout a police officer at the scene sustained serious injuries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The officer suffered a glancing blow to the head from one bullet, while another caused significant damage to his right shoulder.<\/p>\n

It was also believed the police car\u2019s laminated windscreen may have saved the officer\u2019s life by changing the trajectory of the bullets.<\/p>\n

In a statement to 1News on Tuesday, Superintendent Scott Gemmell said the officer has continued his recovery following the incident.<\/p>\n

“It will take time but he\u2019s making good progress, and we look forward to seeing that continue in the weeks and months to come,” Gemmell said.<\/p>\n

“He remains off work to focus on his recovery.”<\/p>\n

Mayor says community has moved on<\/p>\n

\"Waitomo<\/p>\n

Waitomo District Mayor John Robertson. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Waitomo District Mayor John Robertson said the community is relieved police investigations into possible support for Phillips had come to an end.<\/p>\n

Robertson told 1News that for most locals, the conclusion of Operation Cranmere brought a sense of closure.<\/p>\n

“I think the community generally will be really pleased to see that come to a conclusion,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve moved on as a community, and for the family and those close to them, it’s good to see this come to an end in the way police have described.”<\/p>\n

Police maintained Phillips was assisted by a small number of people, but Robertson said speculation had circulated for years and that ultimately police would know more than anyone.<\/p>\n

“There’s been all sorts of theories over the four years he was away \u2014 who knows? Of the facts, police probably know more than anyone,” he said.<\/p>\n

While police said charges could still be laid if new evidence emerged, Robertson said from a community perspective, it was time to move on.<\/p>\n

“We had four years of this, and I don’t think it’s helpful to keep digging things up. It’s time for the community to move on.”<\/p>\n

He added that anyone with information should follow police guidance, but declined to speculate further.<\/p>\n

“That’s for individuals to decide. Police have been clear that if there was illegal activity, they want to hear from people,” he said.<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including a man\u2019s arrested after the abduction and death of a young girl in Australia, and new road safety warnings amid a spike in deaths. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police have concluded the investigation to identify those who may have supported Tom Phillips. No charges have been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[67,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-406229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}