Praneeta Mahajan
Hamilton, September 6, 2023
The case of a father who disappeared with his three children in January 2022, resulting in a region-wide search operation has taken a new and unexpected turn.
Waikato Police have been investigating an aggravated robbery in Te Kuiti since May and have now obtained a warrant to arrest Tom Phillips in this connection.
Acting Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders said, “Recent developments in our ongoing enquiries have led the Police to charge Mr Phillips with aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding and unlawfully possessing a firearm.”
About the incident
In May, the Police appealed for information after two people entered a bank on Rora Street, Te Kuiti and demanded cash. Both were armed and fled the scene on a black, farm-style motorbike.
The Police are yet to identify the other person involved but confirmed that it was a female who was involved in the robbery along with Mr Phillips.
The Police have been seeking to speak with Mr Phillips for some time.
Inspector Saunders said, “We have issued several appeals for information following sightings of Mr Phillips over the last couple of months. We urge the public to report any sightings of Mr Phillips. We also urge people not to take action themselves as Mr Phillips potentially still has firearms in his possession.”
The Police have highlighted that it would be prudent for the members of the public not to engage with Mr Phillips and inform the Police immediately as he might be armed and pose a threat to anyone who approaches him.
Recent sightings in Hamilton
The series of appeals were issued by the Police after Mr Phillips was spotted at a couple of stores in Hamilton by Waikato locals in August 2023. The first confirmed sightings of him since early last year. His children were not with him.
A photo of a man the Police believe is Phillips, seen at Bunnings in Te Rapa at about 4 pm on August 2, 2023, showed him wearing a white beanie, a surgical mask covering his face, glasses and a blue jacket.
He was also spotted at a Bunnings on Kahikatea Drive in Hamilton South that afternoon.
On Tuesday evening (September 5, 2023), the Police revealed that he had used a large amount of cash to make purchases at both stores, including headlamps, batteries, seedlings, buckets and gumboots, which suggested that he may be setting up a campsite.
Concern for Children
The Police believe that Mr Phillips has been receiving support from members of the community and some people who are close to him. Inspector Saunders advised them to report any details about Mr Phillips to the Police as the welfare of the children is of utmost importance. He said that anyone assisting the fugitive could be charged.
The community has given mixed responses to the Police’s efforts to search for Mr Phillips and his children as the public sentiment on the matter varied, with many supporting his right as a father to be with his children.
Inspector Saunders said that people who support Mr Phillips’s actions as a father should revisit the matter in light of new information and said, “These are children, how are they being educated, what’s their health like, have they been fed, what are they eating?”
The mother of the children is very concerned and he said the information relating to the bank robbery came as a shock to her.
Mr Phillips and his children were officially reported as missing in December 2021. Phillips and his three children Jayda, 10, Maverick, 8, and Ember, 7, were reported missing from Marokopa on 18 January 2022. It was not the first time that Mr Phillips had taken the children and disappeared.
Police earlier said that his second disappearance breached a parenting order and there was a warrant out for his arrest after he failed to appear in court in relation to their first disappearance in September 2021.
If you have any information that may assist the Police in locating them, please contact 111 quoting file number 230516/7295. Alternatively, you can contact at op.curly@police.govt.nz.
Praneeta Mahajan is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Hamilton.
