Inquest hears fatal stabbing of Zahra Abrahimzadeh followed ‘cascade of errors’ by SA Police
UPDATED: An estranged husband fatally stabbed his wife in front of hundreds of people despite his family obtaining a restraining order, an inquest has heard.
AN estranged husband stabbed his wife in front of hundreds of people despite his family obtaining a restraining order before the tragedy, an inquest has heard.
The inquest into the death of Zahra Abrahimzadeh began today before State Coroner Mark Johns.
Mrs Abrahimzadeh was stabbed multiple times by her husband, Zialloh Abrahimzadeh, at a function for the Persian New Year at the Convention Centre in March 2010 in front of 300 people.
Today counsel assisting Naomi Kereru said the court would hear of a “cascade of errors and omissions by police” in the lead-up to Mrs Abrahimzadeh’s death.
Ms Kereru said Mrs Abrahimzadeh, her son and two daughters first reported the domestic violence by Zialloh Abrahimzadeh in February 2009.
She said Mr Abrahimzadeh was never charged with the assaults against his family or spoken to about the allegations by the police.
Ms Kereru said two police officers were unable to locate Mr Abrahimzadeh and reported they were unable to return to the assignment as they had other tasks.
She said another police officer recorded in the investigation diary that he was unable to attend to the matter as he was working on “high-risk” cases.
“The inaction continues,” she said.
Ms Kereru said the inquest would hear of a restraining order obtained by Mrs Abrahimzadeh and possible breaches by her husband.
Giving evidence, Mrs Abrihimzadeh’s son, Arman, told the court he, his mother and his sisters left the family home in February, 2009, after years of abuse by his father.
“In some cases he would go as far as using a belt or a whip or a stick, or anything available at the time,” Mr Abrahimzadeh said.
He said by February 2009 there was “a lot of tension, a lot of fear” in the house”.
Mr Abrahimzadeh, his sisters and mother left the house following a fight when his father threatened to “burn the house down with all of us inside”.
Mr Abrahimzadeh said they went to the Salisbury Police Station and filed statements about the incident.
“He (Zialloh) probably would have killed us all then and there if he had found out,” he said.
Mr Abrahimzadeh said he had the understanding that it could go to court.
“This wasn’t something we thought was going to go away. This wasn’t a joke, this was serious.”
Mr Abrahimzadeh said he understood that the restraining order, which was granted by the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court in March 2009, was not served to his father until April when the family returned to the house to remove the rest of their belongings.
He said he thought the family was “protected” by the restraining order.
“If for any reason he decided to harass my mother or threaten her or harm her in any way that there would be more severe consequences.”
Mr Abrahimzadeh said his father continued to make threats against the family during weekly visits with his younger sister.
“(He would) say things along the lines of he would take his revenge, every action had a reaction and would warn us not to blame him if he was to lose control and do something,” he said.
Mr Abrahimzadeh said his father would mention that he would “make history” with his actions.
He reported the threats to the Netley Police Station as he believed they were in breach of the intervention order.
Mr Abrahimzadeh said he thought no action was taken by the police however as the threats continued.
He said in March 2010 the family was notified that his father was seeking to amend the restraining order to allow him to attend cultural and religious functions.
He said a police prosecutor told them that if they did not agree with the amendment, Mrs Abrahimzadeh would go before a magistrate and risk the restraining order being removed.
Less than three weeks later, Mrs Abrahimzadeh was killed by her husband at the function at the Adelaide Convention Centre.
The inquest continues.