Rosie Batty not informed of decapitation threat

Victorian police failed to pass on a decapitation threat by Luke Batty's father just weeks before he killed the 11-year-old at a public cricket pitch, it has been revealed.

Greg Anderson was shot by police on February 12 at the bloody scene where he murdered his son with a cricket bat and knife in the Victorian town of Tyabb.

Anderson had been living rough in the days prior after his former housemate took out an intervention order against him when he threatened to cut off his head.

A week after police forced Anderson to vacate the Chelsea Heights share house, an officer rang Luke's mother, Rosie Batty, looking for her former partner.

She passed on Anderson's new address but was not made aware of the threat, nor the intervention order.

Ms Batty told ABC's Four Corners that if she had known this she may have been more aware of the imminent danger her son was in.

"It's gravely concerning," she said.

"A lot of us are very careless saying 'I could kill you, you know, you're driving me mad' or throw-away angry comments, but to actually say … to decapitate someone. They're not light comments."

Victorian Police Commissioner Ken Lay said a coronial inquest into Luke's death set for October meant he could not confirm the claims.

"If ... what you're saying to me is right, the coroner will have a look at that," he said.

"But again, that may well be indicative of police members not being in possession of all the facts."

Source: ABC
Author: Chloe Ross, Approving editor: Simon Black