The Government's care of a troubled teenager who set fire to a house south of Auckland, killing a woman, will be further probed at an inquest today.
Lynette Chapman was left with no escape when Tonya Bennett, who was 16 at the time, soaked a sweatshirt in absinthe and lit it, causing a fire which engulfed Ms Chapman's Pukekohe home in January 2009.
Bennett had been in Child, Youth and Family (CYF) care since she was a child, and was at the time of the fire living at a house across the road from the Chapmans provided by CYF-contracted charity YouthLink.
The care provided to Bennett that night by a YouthLink worker came under scrutiny at the inquest before Coroner Morag McDowell in Auckland District Court yesterday.
The inquest was told how the carer, who has interim name suppression, brought her two young children with her to Bennett's house that night, and did not follow the organisation's crisis plan when Bennett came home drunk.
The inquest, which is likely to take less than the scheduled three days, will today hear evidence from YouthLink chief executive Alan Newman and two Ministry of Social Development staff.
In 2010 Bennett was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment after pleading guilty to murder and two counts of arson.
