Coroner says more could have been done to focus on Brett Peter Cowan, who is now serving life sentence for Daniel’s murder

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The early police response to the disappearance of Queensland boy Daniel Morcombe did not pay enough attention to his murderer, Brett Peter Cowan, as a suspect, a coroner says.

Inquest findings were handed down by state coroner Terry Ryan on Friday, just over 15 years since Daniel disappeared on his way to buy Christmas presents in 2003.

Ryan noted Cowan was a convicted child sex offender and admitted being in the Sunshine Coast area where Daniel, 13, disappeared.

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“I agree with the submissions from family and counsel assisting that more could have been done to focus on Mr Cowan in the early stages of the investigation,” Ryan said on Friday. “[That is] particularly having regard to his admissions that placed him at the scene of Daniel’s disappearance, the gaps in his alibi and the specific nature of his offending history.”

Taking DNA from Cowan’s car, in which Daniel was killed, “should have been prioritised and the subject of much earlier examination”.

Ryan noted it was the “largest criminal investigation in the history of Queensland”, with 100 dedicated officers and about 10,000 interviews.

Cowan, now serving life in jail for Daniel’s murder, was arrested in 2011 after confessing to undercover officers in an elaborate police sting.

Claims made at the inquest by two police officers – that they were rebuffed when they raised Cowan as a suspect – could not be proven.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bruce and Denise Morcombe, who said: ‘I hope, in the future, families won’t have to wait so long to get some answers.’ Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Former police officer Dennis Martyn told the inquest he told the then head of the homicide squad, Mike Condon, it was Cowan but was told to “fuck off”. Condon denied the conversation ever took place.

Ryan said the immediate police response that treated Daniel’s disappearance as a teenage runaway should not have happened but was “not inappropriate” in terms of policy at the time.

Given Daniel was likely killed within an hour of his abduction, his death could not have been prevented by police, he said.

Ryan also said incorrect police focus on a blue car, seen by witnesses around the time and place of Daniel’s disappearance, was justified.

Before the findings, Denise and Bruce Morcombe said they would be forever haunted by the chilling description of the kidnap and murder by the “repulsive paedophile” who killed their son.

“His words have scarred us and will haunt us all forever,” they said.

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But they were grateful for the inquest that began in 2010 and ultimately led to Daniel’s body being found, and life in jail for the killer.

After the findings, Denise Morcombe was relieved the marathon court processes were over.

“It’s a relief for the family,” she said. “We’ll never get Daniel back, I hope in the future families won’t have to wait so long to get some answers.”

The long-running inquest examined if and when Daniel had died, and the adequacy of the police response and investigation.