Missing Marokopa family: Former SAS tracker says soldiers could find Tom Phillips within two weeks
- A former SAS tracker says elite NZSAS soldiers could locate fugitive Tom Phillips and his children within two weeks.
- Phillips and the children – Jayda, Maverick and Ember – were sighted last week in remote central North Island farmland.
- The children’s mother, Cat, called the police response “sorely lacking” and questioned why the Army and SAS personnel hadn’t been asked to assist.
The question isn’t ‘can the State do this’, the question is, ‘should the State do this”.
There was never any real question over whether or not Police could use violence to remove the protestors from Parliaments lawns, the question was always ‘should they’.
The State in a Democracy has a monopoly on violence, they can always put together Riot Police with extreme powers and use any violence to gain control.
Could soldiers track Tom Phillips, could they hunt him down? Of course they could, the question is should they.
Tom Phillips is just a mother father brutalised by the Family Court process. Where as most fathers take what the system mets out, Phillips said no.
Corner him and make him a martyr would be an exceptionally dangerous thing for the NZ Police to cause.
Don’t misinterpret me, I think those poor children need to be urgently rescued from this demented journey, but that has to be done safely because his actions have a fatalism to them and the very last thing anyone wants are dead children.
Phillips is an extreme response to a brutal Family Court process, whatever the outcome, that brutal Family Court process has to be addressed to prevent more Tom Phillips.
Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.
This Phillips guy has a serious screw loose. “She done me wrong” is no excuse for exposing his children to a hazardous feral life. A few days might be understandable, but years, really?
How much do Phillips and his supporters dislike women…quite a lot by the looks of it. Mens Rights groups and tin foil hat wearers will be loving this one. Hopefully the kids will be rescued before something horrific happens to them.
Maybe you should ask the mother why she abandoned the kids and moved away with another partner then decided 3 years later she wanted normal transmission but with her having full control of the kids .Tom clearly cares about his kids and if everyone backed off and gave him a clear run he would be able to show that .
Well from experience with in my whanau he has every right to feel pissed off .How can he be deemed to be a bad parent when he looked after those kids on his own for a number of years after the mother abandoned them .She comes back and the court gives her custody ?.I know two young men who were great fathers to their kids till the mums decided one morning ,Im going to take you to the cleaners and rang the cops ,lied to them that she had been assaulted and had him removed from the house .All down hill for the kids from there as they became pawns in a game of I will fuck you over .And I want all the family assets .Then once I have everything you will pay hundreds per week and never spend time with your kids again because I will continue to lie to the court about you .
Tom Phillips may have absconded with his children, but that’s what the family court does every day, and that’s what will happen when they emerge from the bush. The modus operandi of the court is not a surprise to most people, where words like abuse and neglect are de rigueur, where affidavits are not worth the paper they’re written on, and court appointed lawyers do the courts bidding and lying – but what’s undeniably telling, is that when the video of the Phillips family emerged, it can be seen that none of the three children ran towards the pig hunters for rescue.
To keep some perspective, how many children have died in Gaza during the same period of time? If we’re going to use sas soldiers to rescue children, then a war zone is the place to start. And the State, are the last people to say what’s best for children, when you look at the State’s utter failure in the abuse in care inquiry, and soon to be followed by Bootcamps. The abuse inquiry showed, that there are persons living among us, who have perpetrated the worst crimes against children, or turned a blind eye to it including Police. And they are yet to face justice, and in all likelihood won’t face justice, in this hypocrisy democracy. Surely during the two year Maracopa saga, at least some of those implicated in the abuse in care inquiry, could have faced consequences, instead of zero, because zero is such a small number.
Some harsh words have been used to describe Mr Phillips, from the all men are bad and should be locked up brigade, which is why I’m writing this countervailing comment. He is a father looking after his children at no cost to the State and without child support payments, which are facts. The harsh words against him are opinion from those whom he’s never met.
Similar situations have happened before when a parent with partial custody has whisked their children overseas. A remote analogy to the Maracopa situation might be seen in the movie “Falling Down”.
COMPARE the amount of criticism against Mr Phillips, to the amount of sympathy for Lauren Dickason, who killed 3 children. She was a killer while Mr Phillips is a loving father who wants to be with his children more than the family court will allow – they are not in the same moral hysteria ballpark.
COMPARE the recent police actions against an an Auckland eye surgeon. If Phillip Polkinghorne had been Phyllis Polkinghorne, there would not have been a court case.
COMPARE it to the George Spate standoff, where the argument was, please bring this to an end because the longer you don’t, the more we will punish you when you do. Is never an argument that leads to speedy resolution.
You are right. The last thing we want are more dead children.
Mr. Phillips may or may not be regretting his actions by now, but he is determined he won’t be side-lined or
beaten by the system again.
He’s done well to keep them alive and apparently healthy all this time. But life gets complicated, and it will get very complicated for him soon as the older girl matures.
He must also be exhausted.
At this point, if he is truly a good father, he should be thinking very seriously about sacrificing the point he was trying to make, for his children’s welfare.
They are already at a stage where they may find it difficult to adapt to being back in a normal life. They could already prove troublesome for their mother to manage in future and Mr. Phillips has other offences which will need to be dealt with.
I hope the court and the family court can forget their stance on punishment and try to work with the family for the best outcome now. The children are the ones that matter. To punish the father now, will be to punish the children some more.
The parents, both of them, need to put aside their perceived rights and consider the children’s rights and their futures.
BOTH parents will have to make huge sacrifices now, to ensure those 3 children have a fair chance of coming back from this ‘adventure’ unharmed.
The family court needs to be looking at itself too.
Sadly the family court will cruicify him because he is a him .
What is the required next step? Could TVNZ get funding to make a reality show of the hunt that pays for itself and is a salutary lesson that one can’t get away from the gummint or you might end up surrounding a hole. So just suck it youse!
The longer this goes on, the more likely it will come to a violent end, sadly. I’m seeing it all being setup in the media – the sob stories from the mum, the demonisation of Phillips. Some undertrained Policeman with a gun is likely to see him as a threat when they stumble upon him, and shots will be fired. My prediction.
Never mind “poor dad” sentiments, the man has obviously lost the plot long ago. Police are highly likely to shoot him though, they regularly use lethal force when not necessary–Steven Wallace acting out with a golf club for example and so many others over the years.
The other scenario no one wants to talk about is that enacted by a number of burnt out men–murder suicide. If I can’t have them nobody will…some of these kid shooters may rationalise it that they are actually “saving” them or whatever. It would be awful if he did that with armed Police closing in. Regardless he needs to be tracked, found and caught with supporters charged too.
the man has not lost the plot ,because he clearly has succeeded in keeping out of the way for this long.
Sadly some men are DRIVEN to murder suicide as you say but not for the reason you imply .Put your self in their position where one week they are taking the kids to sport and or school and other things dads do .Next week you are kicked out of the home you have provided for the family and are homeless and prevented by the court from contacting your kids .You are still expected to pay the mortgage and pay hundreds per week towards the children you are now prevented from seeing .
I knew a young man who committed suicide because of the fucked up life his mother inflicted upon him while she was fucking his father over and taking him to the cleaners .
People have been niggling at the mother no doubt and she feels she must speak up. But the underlying problems aren’t getting sorted and it has turned into a media event. Heaven help us as our country is becoming a bunch of educated savages with powerful weapons of sharp intellect which cuts truth and human interaction to pieces and physical weapons with brawling at personal level and brutality at official level as the supposed ‘answer’.
This song – The Call and The Answer and the video might give a feeling of what Tom Phillips is seeking at the present. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQJjfT4Y5xs – De Dannan
https://genius.com/The-dubliners-the-call-and-the-answer-lyrics
After the SAS’s involvement in Afghanistan, and the terrorising and shooting at innocent peasant children in the Tirigan Valley, extreme caution should be used in deploying them to carry out work they are not trained to do.
It could possibly be also viewed as government overreach, and Kiwis are sensitive about that post pandemic.
Government mounting a public herpes initiative may also be overreach. Herpes was an issue in the 80’s when most people watched television, and I don’t recall any television campaign against it like I gather is planned and which can also be seen as the sexualisation of so much now, as in the gender ideology being promulgated in schools, transgendered persons participating in women’s sport.
This is an awful family tragedy, and the children in particular may be quite damaged by it. In a country like New Zealand which has a bad track record regarding children’s well-being and many person’s well-being, IMO state intervention offers few, if any, positives.
“ I think those poor children need to be urgently rescued from this demented journey, but that has to be done safely. . . “
Which safe rescue might involve what?
Thousands of other parents home school the kids .These kids are clearly well educated and will be able to survive better than any kid thats been to a fancy private school when the world turns to shit soon .
This guy isn’t the anti hero you’re looking for.
That poor women. Her days must be a living nightmare – her babies kidnapped by a fucknut pussy too stupid, pig ignorant or self controlled to navigate his way through fatherhood. Only a twat would put themselves before the welfare of his children and this ‘alpha’ certainly has.
The questions aren’t ‘can the State do this’ or ‘should the State do this” but why the fuck haven’t they rescued them kids yet? And how much compensation should that mother get from a government that’s completely failed her family.
They were not kidnapped and he was their sole parent for 3 years after she fucked off and abandoned them for another man .
Agree Alien. What’s this bullshit about the family court forcing him into the woods? What I don’t understand is why the children were left with him after the first wildly crazy incident of abandoning his car to the tide and taking off with the kids leaving everyone to think he had done a murder/ suicide. How could he then disappear again with the children for three years, and sympathy still lean his way. What a fucker. Poor, poor mother. You seem to lay the blame of the actions of this crazy dangerous asshole on her. M B you sure have some chip on your shoulder to even hint at that as being an excuse or legitimizes his deranged Bonny and Clyde act with his children that looks increasingly like it’s going to end in tragedy. He has a gun, he’s stolen cars, he’s robbed banks. This is not some hero Man Alone scenario saving his kids from the family court. WTF.
Could the court tell him he’s proved he’s a capable father looking after his kids living off the land for three years. Promise him he won’t be prosecuted for kidnapping because how the hell can you kidnap your own kids. Give him shared custody like every father ought and needs to be entitled too and to come in from the cold.
The children are alive and apparently well but being outside society causes difficulties later. The mother may have been somewhat relieved to see this piece of film last week. I would be. But it cannot go on.
Phillips is now being selfish in denying his children, wider family love and care, education they will need in the future and companionship.
There will be Stockholm Syndrome as well. The children won’t come quietly.
Initially we all hoped it would be over in 2 weeks and no-one wanted to disturb this process but it’s now making everyone involved including the courts, look stupid.
As Al1en above said, he’s not some sort of anti-hero. He’s a man who refuses to compromise and see another’s point of view. He’s taken extreme action and therefore the result is likely to be extreme.
Stubborn male pride.
Sorry to all the nice, balanced men who comment here but some of your number are weird.
Probably some stubborn female pride involved too.
Without details everyone assumes this is about access to his kids.
He’s become a renegade from society and robbed a bank to survive and faces jail time when he comes in and after this event likely the family court will allow no access to his kids. There is no incentive to come in he needs an assurance around access to his kids. The last thing needed is a man hunt.
Joseph I think you state the situation well.
Joy. Wanna see weird ? Have a look at the Greens in Parliament, and te Pati Maori too. Both do well-paid weird, and its a toss up as to who does weird better, and proud to be so.
Spend a few moments looking at utube and trump’s rallies. They have degrees in weird, those people. Only in America – we hope.
You forgot to mention National, Act and NZ First to that list of well-paid weird, but then they are more sinister than perhaps just plain old weird.
As long as they are not using dead children’s names like the drongo from ACT.
He had a reason. Don’t throw little dirt bombs into the discussion without some explanation of the matter. Let’s try to stick to facts and not build up on the weirdo stuff.
Te Pati Maori are a damn sight less weird than the knob Luxon and Tim Jago’s nonce party.
Forget the SAS. A couple of pig hunters with local knowledge could find the proverbial needle in the haystack.
The SAS must be bloody useless if they cant find 4 people in a couple of days .Mind you he has avoided the police heat seeking helecopter on at least two occasions
What amazes me is why everyone thinks every man in NZ is an arsehole and should have no rights to their children .The other thing is how the family court facilitates this to happen .I have seen both sides of the story in my whanau and yes there are some shit men out there but there are an equal number of shit mothers as well .
This is headlines in the British daily mail ( I know a right wing paper ). Tom Phillips endangered lives with his first disappearance. Divers searching caves in storms. For that he should be prosecuted. Are these children being brainwashed by his mentality because he may be thinking in terms of “ poor me “ however what about the children are they having the time of their lives while Phillips plays with authority using his children for protection. For all we know he may be living in a quiet cottage in the suburbs with all mod cons and makes appearances now and again to feed the urban myth.
You should write a book. You have a very active mind and can imagine diverse possibilities. Could you work out how this matter could be cleared up to everyone’s good? I can, and it doesn’t involve sending Phillips to jail or hanging him out to dry either.
The first thing that this government should do, and do it pronto, is to re-establish the free compulsory joint counselling for which either partner could apply to the Family Court. In tragic scenarios involving children, and lawyers with the potential to polarise the situation, and many parents unable to afford even lawyers, it should never have been abolished in the first place.
Had it not been, the current situation with young children mentally, emotionally, and physically at risk, dad on the run, and a mother tormented with worry, may not have come about.
polarising
Do the parents get assessed psychologically before these ‘free compulsory joint counselling’ sessions.
Some parents wouldn’t and shouldn’t, make it that far.
Joy The only case I know reasonably well, the mother applied for compulsory joint counselling upon the advice of her solicitor. This was granted, whereupon the father was obliged to attend joint sessions with a qualified psychologist, not just some polytech counsellor. The main issue appeared to be the relationship of the couple themselves where communication was almost non-existent with the abusive husband historically averse to discussing problems and any issues concerning the children. Both were intelligent and well-educated with father in a prestigious professional position.
I’m so tired of hearing that a parent has been done over by the family courts. Male or female, all you have to do to have access with your children is comply with a few rules, maybe a parenting course and some drug tests. This is an island, you could live in different cities and still share custody with a bit of adult planning and transport.
Are you employed by the family court? If you’re tired of hearing about parent’s in the family court, it is not compulsory to seek this info out. Family courts aren’t justice, they’re there to deal to problems. If they were places for justice, then family court lawyers would come under the jurisdiction of the Law Society’s professional watchdog role like real lawyers, but they don’t! That means that family court lawyers, can crap over people with impunity, and so long as they don’t throw dog poo at the judge, they won’t get into any trouble. Until there is proper oversight of family court lawyers, then it’s not a proper court, just a corrupt rats nest dealing to societal problems. What other country’s would tolerate this lack of oversight?
Comments are closed.