Halatau Naitoko's family sue for $1m | Stuff.co.nz

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Halatau Naitoko, with his baby daughter.

The scene on Auckland's Northwestern Motorway after a police chase which ended with Halatau Naitoko being shot dead by police.

Stephen Hohepa McDonald was convicted after pleading guilty to multiple charges at the Auckland District Court. He was inolved in the police chase which resulted in the shooting of Halatau Naitoko by a stray police bullet.

Halatau Naitoko's mother Ivoni Fuimaono breaks down in her Papatoetoe home after reading the report into the death of her son.

Halatau Naitoko's mother Ivoni Fuimaono breaks down in her Papatoetoe home after reading the report into the death of her son.

The mother of slain man Halatau Naitoko, Ivoni Fuimaono, with a photo of her son at her Papatoetoe home.

Toddler Halatau Teputepu, namesake and the half-brother to police shooting victim Halatau Naitoko, and his mother Ivoni Fuimaono at their Mangere home in 2010.

Paea Fangufangu (left) and Tanu Niatoko (right) at the headstone unveiling of Halatau Naitoko at South Auckland's Mangere Cemetery.

Police Commissioner Howard Broad and then-Manukau mayor Len Brown by the graveside at the funeral Halatau Naitoko.

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The family of a teenager mistakenly shot dead by police in Auckland are planning to sue over his death for $1 million.

Halatau Naitoko, a new father and courier driver, died in 2009 after getting caught in the cross fire as police chased a drug-fuelled suspect down Auckland's northwestern motorway.

His family's lawyer Colin Pidgeon QC said after a lengthy analysis by a leading expert in Bill of Rights law, they had decided to make a claim and settled on the sum.

The claim will be filed against the Attorney General, under the Bill of Rights Act.

Naitoko's mother?Ivoni Fuimaono-Teputepu?said it was extremely difficult to put a figure on the value of her son's life.

"I think that goes for every mother that has got children. I think that all children are precious. I never wanted to place a value on him."

Fuimaono-Teputepu?said it was more about the police recognising that Naitoko's life meant something. "If only the police will feel how much he meant."

She said the family was struggling financially and had been waiting a long time to file the claim, for which they needed to get legal aid.

The next step would be to file letters of administration appointing Naitoko's mother the administrator of his estate.

Earlier this year, an?Independent Police Conduct Authority had pointed out "serious dereliction of duties" by the officers involved, Pidgeon said.

Naitoko was shot when police were pursuing gunman Stephen McDonald, who stole a car, drove through a police cordon and led police on an extended chase through Auckland.

He fired at the police Eagle helicopter and after crashing his stolen car he left the vehicle on the northwestern motorway.

McDonald was later convicted and sentenced to 13 years jail after he admitted to 23 charges, including firing at police, possessing a firearm, aggravated robbery and unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle.

- ? Fairfax NZ News

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Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/7838095/Family-of-police-shooting-victim-want-1m

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