Coroner Alexander Ho is calling for more information before giving his findings into the death of Gore preschooler Lachlan Jones.
The three-year-old boy was found dead in a sewage pond on the outskirts of the Southland town in January 2019.
Two police investigations found he accidentally drowned, but his father disputed those findings.
An inquest into the death was held in Invercargill last year.
The coroner was due to give his findings on Friday but, on Monday, said he was reluctantly delaying it until next month to allow for further submissions to be filed.
Ho said he may call for further investigations into the death.
Police at the time quickly concluded the boy had drowned but in 2023 confessed they had “missed some steps” in the investigation.
Jones said he never believed Lachlan drowned, calling the investigation a “bloody botched-up police job”.
rnz.co.nz
