Coroner’s Court probes how James Fairhall was free to kill Seaford mum Noeline Dalzell

A man had a warrant out for his arrest for 75 days before he stabbed his ex-partner to death in front of her children in Seaford.

Noeline Dalzell, 49, was killed by her former partner, James Fairhall, at her Seaford home on February 4, 2020. Picture: Supplied.

Noeline Dalzell’s killer had a warrant out for his arrest for 75 days before he stabbed his ex-partner in front of her children, but police failed to detain him until she was dead.

Government failures in protecting Ms Dalzell and her kids from James Fairhall have been exposed as the Coroner’s Court probes how a man slapped with an intervention order was for weeks able to sleep on his victim’s couch until the day he killed her, in February 2020.

On Wednesday, State Coroner Judge John Cain heard Fairhall had months earlier been released from 55 days in jail for breaching an intervention order against Ms Dalzell.

The day of his “somewhat unexpected” prison release, on November 6, 2019, his advanced case manager tried to contact both him and his emergency contact, but the details the government department had for them both were wrong.

Described as a “lost opportunity to engage with Mr Fairhall and his housing needs”, this failure meant he was released from jail without anywhere to live, which led to him moving into his victim’s Seaford home.

Neighbours desperately tried to save Ms Dalzell but she died at the scene. Picture: Supplied.

Fairhall’s case was referred to a specialist Risk Assessment and Management Panel due to the concern of continuing high risk family violence, but a meeting of the panel was never convened.

Within 13 days of his release from prison, Fairhill breached the intervention order and a warrant was issued for his arrest on November 21.

But Judge Cain was told the warrant was never executed, and he was only placed back into custody after he murdered Ms Dalzell on February 4, 2020 as she tried in vain to flee.

Neighbours desperately attempted to save the 49-year-old when she ran to the safety of their home suffering a stab wound to the neck, but she died at the scene.

Earlier, the court was told Ms Dalzell had been “tolerating” Fairhall sleeping on her couch for six weeks despite the intervention order she had against him because he had “nowhere else to live”.

Regular calls were made from Ms Dalzell’s home to police from the day her attacker was released from jail until shortly before he killed her.

But police said they could never track him down because he was “coming and going” from the property.

Calls were also made to Crime Stoppers, while a “safety plan” was initiated by The Orange Door family violence service two months before the murder, but that plan was never intended to protect the family long term.

Judge Cain said his focus in probing the systemic failures was on what steps were taken and by who, and “who’s actually making the decisions on this”.

“There’s information flying around the place,” His Honour said.

“What are people doing with that information and who is accountable?”

A coronial inquest into Ms Dalzell’s death is expected to begin in April.

Fairhall was found guilty of murder and sentenced to a maximum 25 years jail.