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May 2018

Early in the morning of 24 April 2017, Archer Crichton, the son of Mr Andrew Crichton, tragically died at only 2 months old.  

In the very early stages of the police investigation into the incident, an SMS was sent by a police officer to a journalist of the Daily Advertiser.  The SMS suggested that Archer had been murdered and that a 'person of interest' was in custody.  Having received that SMS, and in light of surrounding circumstances, the Daily Advertiser concluded that Mr Crichton may have been implicated in the tragic death of his son, and subsequently published articles to that effect.

The New South Wales Police Force did not authorise the sending of that SMS, nor was anyone within the New South Wales Police Force, other than that officer, aware of the SMS at the time.  The SMS was sent before the facts were known and, as a result, was not accurate.  It should never have been sent.  

The SMS does not, and did not, represent the views of the New South Wales Police Force and the New South Wales Police Force do not make any suggestion that Mr Crichton was in any way involved in the death of his son.

The New South Wales Police Force sincerely apologises to Mr Crichton for any harm, distress and hurt which have been caused to Mr Crichton, and his family, by the sending of that SMS