Coroner’s Court probes failures that led to James Fairhall stabbing Noeline Dalzell to death

Police had a warrant to arrest Noeline Dalzell’s killer in their possession for 75 days before he went on to fatally stab her in her Seaford home, a court has heard.

Noeline Dalzell was killed by her former partner, James Fairhal. Picture: Supplied

For 75 days, police had in their possession a warrant to arrest recidivist family violence offender James Fairhall, who went on to murder his former partner, Noeline Dalzell.

Ms Dalzell, 49, was fatally stabbed in the neck in front of her three children in her Seaford home on February 4, 2020 after enduring more than a decade of violence by Fairhall.

Her children, then aged 13, 15 and 16, desperately tried to protect their mother from their father, who repeatedly threatened his way into their home, despite a long history of violence and police involvement.

The Coroner’s Court is probing the systematic failures that led to the deadly stabbing, including the failure of police to execute a warrant for Fairhall’s arrest soon after his release from prison three months prior to Ms Dalzell’s murder.

The extensive history of violence she experienced at the hands of her former partner was laid bare in court on Monday.

Police recorded 27 incidents of family violence by Fairhall — the first in 2003, a year after the pair met.

He was charged with 43 offences, predominantly for family violence offending.

Noeline Dalzell was fatally stabbed in the neck in front of her three children in her Seaford home in 2020. Picture: Supplied

Police intervened but nothing deterred Fairhall from committing further violence or forcing his way into Ms Dalzell’s home.

In 2016, while demanding to be let inside Ms Dalzell’s home, he threatened to kick down her door, telling her “I will kill you all” if he went back to jail.

The court heard Ms Dalzell’s “experience with the justice system’s response to offending against her would have made this threat from him all the more real” given the sentences he received for his violence.

These ranged from community correction orders to short prison stints, including five periods of incarceration between 2007 and 2019 never longer than six months.

The court heard that on November 6, 2019, Fairhall was unexpectedly released from prison, sentenced to 55 days’ time served for offences including possessing cannabis.

A charge of threatening to kill Ms Dalzell was withdrawn due to a lack of evidence.

The court heard Ms Dalzell was not notified of his release, with Fairhall terrorising her barely a fortnight later.

A warrant for his arrest was issued on November 21, 2019 but never executed by police.

“Mr Fairhall remained at liberty until he murdered Noeline 75 days later,” the court heard.

Assistant Commissioner for Family Violence Lauren Callaway was grilled over this lack of action by police.

She told the court Fairhall deliberately avoided police and did not have a job or home that could have narrowed their search for him.

“If someone doesn’t have those things (a job/home) and is actively avoiding police attention, which we know he was doing through taking his (SIM) card out of his phone, then it becomes more difficult,” Ms Callaway said.

Fairhall was sentenced to 25 years behind bars, with a minimum of 18.5 years.

The four-day inquest resumes on Tuesday.