"We recovered the kids": Police acknowledge missed opportunities to find Tom Phillips but say they achieved primary aim

An admission of failures —and missed opportunities— over the long disappearance of Tom Phillips and his children. 

A four-year hunt for the fugitives ended in gunfire last September when Police killed Phillips. 

An inquiry's exposed numerous failures by Police and Oranga Tamariki and a lack of information sharing. 

Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers told Mike Hosking they ultimately achieved what they set out to do, which was recover the children. 

However, she says four years in the bush was absolutely too long, and she can't deny that the conditions the children were kept in were inhumane. 

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• 'Really missed a trick': Oranga Tamariki CEO on the organisation's failings identified in Tom Phillips inquiry
• 'It's not good reading': Police admit to failings identified in Tom Phillips inquiry