A police watchdog has cleared Ballina officers of serious misconduct over their response to a 000 call before the death of Lindy Lucena in early 2023.

However, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) found systemic failures delayed the police response and there was an inadequate search of the area, less than 500m from the Ballina Police Station.

The report examined police actions after a caller reported a woman was being bashed in Holden Lane behind the Salvation Army building on the evening of January 3, 2023.

The woman, later identified as Ms Lucena, was found dead the following day.

Her partner, Robert Huber, has been convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 11 years and three months.

In its report, the LECC found the police response was hampered by a computer system error, failures to follow radio procedures and competing operational demands.

The commission is calling for an urgent review of police radio room operations after finding the Computer Aided Dispatch system contributed to delays in officers being notified of the assault report.

The LECC report found that about 7pm on January 3, a call was received reporting a woman was being attacked.

The incident was entered into the Computer Aided Dispatch system at 7.03pm as a Priority 2 job, meaning it should have been broadcast to local police within 90 seconds.

However, the first broadcast did not go out for another seven minutes because a senior communications officer working as a dispatch assistant accidentally opened the job, causing it to change from “unviewed” to “viewed” on the system.

The police dispatcher finally broadcast the report at 7.10pm.

Under police procedures, it should then have been rebroadcast every 60 seconds until acknowledged by officers on the ground.

Instead, it was only rebroadcast at 7.24pm and 7.34pm.

However, the commission was “satisfied the evening was a very busy one for both the police dispatchers and the officers on the ground”.

It accepted the dispatcher believed officers had heard the initial broadcast, were tied up with other jobs and would attend as soon as possible.

The LECC report also accepted a Northern Rivers officer’s decision to remain at an obstruction on the Pacific Highway because he believed it posed a risk of a serious traffic accident.

Search found inadequate

Police arrived at Holden Lane, behind the Salvation Army building, about 7.55pm — around 45 minutes after the first broadcast.

Two officers in separate cars drove slowly down Holden Lane.

Within just three and a half minutes, the officers were back on duty after reporting they had found nothing.

The commission noted neither officer got out of their vehicle, despite the search taking only a matter of minutes.

The report found: “By not leaving their cars, they missed the opportunity to hear or see something that may have led to further information about the reported assault.

“The commission considered that this failure amounted to an inadequate police response, but not serious misconduct.”

The report added: “It is not open to the commission to find that had the officers left their cars, they might have saved Ms Lucena’s life.”

The LECC also found local police were quick to connect Ms Lucena’s death to the 000 call from the previous evening.

It also examined why the matter was not referred for a critical incident investigation, but found no serious misconduct by officers involved.

The report makes eight recommendations aimed at improving police procedures and preventing similar failures.

A spokesman for NSW Police told Ballina News Daily the recommendations were noted and being considered. 

Main image: The late Lindy Lucena pictured with her former partner Robert Huber