Philip Polkinghorne murder trial: Pauline Hanna told friends her husband ‘tried to strangle me’, court hears
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT
A longtime friend of Pauline Hanna’s who served as matron of honour at her wedding struggled to hold back tears this morning after she put her hands around her own throat and demonstrated a chilling divulgence she recalled Hanna making about her marriage with eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne a year before her suspicious death.
“She became quite agitated and she described to us that Philip had done this to her,” Victoria Pheasant Riordan told jurors in Polkinghorne’s murder trial, emphasising that Hanna had crossed her hands over her neck with thumbs on either side.
“He’d done it to her and indicated that he could do that at any time. She took that as a threat - a real threat that he could do that to her at any time.”
The testimony marked one of the most emotive moments so far in the high-profile trial, now in its third week in the High Court at Auckland, where it continues to attract near overflow crowds to the court complex’s largest courtroom.
Polkinghorne, 71, is accused of having fatally strangled his wife before calling 111 on the morning of April 5, 2021, to report her suicide by hanging.
Authorities were almost immediately suspicious after noting irregularities in the couple’s Remuera home, including a rope that seemed to be tied too loosely to support a person’s weight, a dishevelled room where Hanna was reported to have slept and several methamphetamine stashes.
The defence, meanwhile, has suggested there were easy explanations for each initial concern from police. They’ve characterised Hanna’s death as a tragic suicide by someone who had a decades-long battle with depression and a job that had reached new levels of stress.
STORY CONTINUES AFTER LIVEBLOG
Helen Van Berkel
John Riordan tells Alysha McClintock Hanna acted "completely different" around Polkinghorne.
He recalls being at the Upland Rd, Remuera home with his wife and having banter with Hanna, "and then Philip came in and Pauline withdrew within herself".
"The mood of the day just went dead."
Her demeanour changed "straight away" from bubbly to withdrawn, Riordan says.
"It was almost like she was careful about the words that she said for fear that she may say something wrong."
Justice Graham Lang adjourns the trial until 10am tomorrow when John Riordan will continue his evidence.
Friend: 'I felt that she was very nervous about the idea of leaving Philip'
Helen Van Berkel
After Hanna told the family about the strangulation, she said she had no money, so couldn't leave Polkinghorne.
She then said he was remorseful and said it wouldn't happen again.
John Riordan says Hastings Hospital would have jumped at the chance of hiring Pauline Hanna and he was "strongly encouraging her to come home".
"I felt that she was very nervous about the idea of leaving Philip."
When she told her friends her husband had shown remorse, John Riordan told her that if he'd done it once, he'd do it to you again.
"We see this time and time again."
What was his wife Pheasant's reaction to this? asks McClintock.
He doesn't recall, he says, he was focused on Hanna's safety: "getting her out and getting her home", in his words.
They carried on with the dinner but talked about the "possible permutations" of getting Hanna back to Hawke's Bay.
But she wanted to get back to Auckland, John Riordan remembers.
He confirms Hanna was drinking and had had a couple of glasses of wine.
Afterwards, the Riordans went home. Pauline was staying at Porter's, a boutique hotel connected to the restaurant.
'He tried to strangle me', Hanna told friend
Helen Van Berkel
In response to questions from Auckland Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock, John Riordan says when they arrived, Hanna was at the restaurant with a family friend, who left soon after.
The conversation began with Hanna's mother, who was suffering from dementia.
"It was clear that she wanted to tell us about what was going on in her life," John Riordan says.
She then started talking about difficulties and arguments she was having with Polkinghorne.
Hanna said she had to be "very very careful" around her husband, otherwise he would blow out, John Riordan tells the court.
"What she was saying was becoming more and more serious."
"Then she stopped talking, and did this," and, like his wife earlier, John Riordan places his hands on his neck.
"Then she said 'he tried to strangle me'."
Riodan is 100% confident Hanna said the words: "he tried to strangle me".
"I just said to her, pack up your bags, you're coming home with us."
John Riordan said to Hanna that if he'd done it once, he'd do it again.
John Riordan says Hanna told them she was at home when her husband tried to strangle her.
Helen Van Berkel
On that point, Corbett is free to go.
The Crown now calls John Riordan, the husband of Victoria Pheasant Riordan, who told the court today how Hanna had claimed Polkinghorne had placed his hands on her neck in what she interpreted as a threat that he could strangle her at any time.
The trial heard earlier John Riordan, his wife and son Connor and Hanna were at a January 2020 dinner at Malo in Havelock North, where the hands on the neck were mentioned.
Helen Van Berkel
Corbett says the practice was 100% behind Polkinghorne and trying to engineer the best possible retirement for him.
Mansfield asks if Polkinghorne was ultimately offered $450,000 upon retirement. Corbett isn't sure.
But Corbett agrees the other specialists received more like $650,000. He agrees Polkinghorne may have found that hard to take on a personal and professional level, given his longstanding involvement with Auckland Eye.
Corbett agrees he told police he never saw Polkinghorne consume drugs or observed any behaviour that suggested he had used drugs.
He further agrees there was never any criticism of how he treated his patients or his skill as a surgeon.
And referring to the last time he saw Hanna and Polkinghorne, in mid-March 2021, he agrees they seemed happy.
Polkinghorne's retirement worries
Helen Van Berkel
Mansfield says the legal costs were more than the specialist who left received in remuneration, so there was criticism of the way Auckland Eye had managed it.
But Corbett pushes back, saying the departure of the two ophthalmologists was "extremely unexpected" and a number of circumstances led to the shareholders agreement being rewritten.
The practice was working with Polkinghorne on "the most suitable, equitable way" for his exit when the two ophthalmologists left unexpectedly.
The departure of the two ophthalmologists and their request for an "extreme" sum of money created huge issues and endangered the company, necessitating legal advice, Corbett agrees.
But Corbett says Auckland Eye had managed the difficult situations well.
"It was matter of being patient and taking stock of the situation and making decisions moving forward," he says.
Mansfield says he is not trying to be critical of the management of Auckland Eye, but is trying to work out if the exit of the two eye doctors would have affected Polkinghorne's retirement plans.
Corbett says there were "many, many balls in the air" including capital and land issues, but concedes Polkinghorne may have seen the the exit of the two shareholders as a "substantial threat" to his exit plans.
Corbett had discussions with Hanna over her husband's retirement worries and he wanted to ensure Polkinghorne was being looked after and managing his stress.
Corbett told the police that Hanna had told him Polkinghorne was not going to be leaving without the same payout as the other two ophthalmologists, who left amid acrimonious circumstances and an acrimonious legal battle in 2019.
Helen Van Berkel
Polkinghorne was stressed when the two specialists left in difficult circumstances in 2019, because their payouts meant the practice was not so well-placed to pay him out on his proposed retirement a few years later, Corbett agrees.
Helen Van Berkel
In his interview with police, Corbett spoke of a strategic planning day in 2020, part of which Polkinghorne had slept through.
He didn't see it himself but it was reported to him as a change of behaviour. Most of his awareness of Polkinghorne's behavioural change, Corbett says, was hearsay.
He agrees the room hosting the strategic planning day where Polkinghorne reportedly fell asleep was "quite stuffy".
Helen Van Berkel
Ophthalmology requires "incredible intelligence", Corbett agrees, and a lot of hard work as well and Polkinghorne was internationally respected for his work.
Despite his conduct in the operating theatre no longer being considered appropriate, Mansfield asks, was Polkinghorne very focused on his patients and achieving good outcomes for them? Corbett agrees.
Returning to Polkinghorne's weight loss about 2017 and 2018, Corbett admits he was not aware Polkinghorne and Hanna had become very focused on their diet and personal training regimens.
Helen Van Berkel
Corbett spoke to police in mid-June 2021, about two months after Hanna died. The intervention with Polkinghorne was about two years before that.
Operating on the eye is very detailed work, requiring a great deal of care and patience, Corbett agrees in response to Mansfield's questions, but pushes back on Mansfield's assertion that things can "easily go wrong".
"I think that we understand that the risk profile - the benefit profile - of what we're dealing with, and some operations carry with them greater risk than others," Corbett says.
Helen Van Berkel
Mansfield notes Corbett told police it was not unusual for old-school surgeons to be a bit short with theatre staff, but it was not so common with younger surgeons. Corbett agrees he did.
Mansfield says when one member of theatre staff complained about Polkinghorne's criticism of their theatre conduct, Corbett became involved.
Corbett explains the company was losing staff who were willing to support Polkinghorne in theatre, and also had an obligation to respond to complaints.
"I think that there was a behavioural change," Corbett says of Polkinghorne.
"Philip's always had a way of operating that the theatre staff who worked with him were used to."
But from a business point of view, Auckland Eye had to be seen to investigate the complaints in the years before Polkinghorne's retirement, Corbett says.
Auckland Eye told Polkinghorne to improve his conduct and approach to theatre staff while operating, Corbett says, and he told police the surgeon made an effort to change.
Helen Van Berkel
Mansfield digs further into Corbett's comments that Polkinghorne could "be a bit intense and focused" so could "be demanding of theatre staff" and curt at times.
Corbett says he saw early on that his colleague would have a low tolerance of disturbances in the operating theatre.
Some staff in the theatre felt "threatened", Corbett says, but he agrees there was no suggestion Polkinghorne was threatening actual violence to staff.
Helen Van Berkel
On Thursdays and Fridays, he might work at Papatoetoe in the morning before returning to Auckland Eye in Remuera in the afternoon.
Mansfield asks if this was a lot of work for a 68-year-old.
Corbett says it depends on the person and agrees that Polkinghorne was always ready for urgent work, even on weekends.
Helen Van Berkel
Auckland Eye also supported a peripheral clinic in Papatoetoe, where Polkinghorne sometimes worked on Thursday mornings, the trial hears.
Helen Van Berkel
Polkinghorne also had a private clinic in Whangārei where he regularly went to work on a Monday, Corbett agrees, and when not in Whangārei, he would be at the University of Auckland, where he was involved in research.
Helen Van Berkel
The trial has previously heard about Polkinghorne's stresses around negotiating his exit payment ahead of retirement.
Mansfield asks Corbett if, for somebody who started Auckland Eye, it was more than just a financial exit but an end of an era.
Yes, agrees Corbett.
Polkinghorne was the second of the "old guard" to leave.
Two specialists had left just before Polkinghorne retired, which had caused issues and legal fees in relation to their exit packages, along with mediation, Corbett agrees.
"So around 2019, there was quite a lot going on at Auckland Eye that involved Dr Polkinghorne, would you agree?" Mansfield asks.
Yes, says Corbett, agreeing it was causing an obvious strain on Polkinghorne.
Helen Van Berkel
Corbett agrees Polkinghorne had overseen and assisted a number of students in his area of speciality to themselves become specialists.
"He has an excellent reputation within his profession?" Mansfield asks.
"Yes," Corbett replies.
Corbett says that when he returned from overseas in 2000, he started working at Auckland Eye and also for the Counties Manukau District Health Board.
Auckland Eye was fairly new and Polkinghorne was one of four specialists who started the practice, but retired after the death of his wife.
"He had invested a considerable amount of his personal and professional years into Auckland Eye?" Mansfield asks.
"Yes," Corbett replies.
So in 2021, when he was 68 years of age, would he be one of the oldest specialists at Auckland Eye?
Yes, by about two years, says Corbett.
Helen Van Berkel
Ron Mansfield KC resumes the afternoon session with his cross-examination of Dean Corbett, an ophthalmologist who was once trained by Polkinghorne then worked with him at Auckland Eye.
He asks about Polkinghorne's work as a vitreoretinal specialist. Earlier, the trial heard vitreoretinal is a new and difficult specialty, focusing on the rear of the eye. It is often the last chance saloon before someone goes blind.
Corbett says he worked in both the public and private sector, but came to the private sector exclusively relatively late in his career.
Helen Van Berkel
After Hanna died, Polkinghorne was on bereavement leave.
Corbett says there was a shareholder meeting about a month after, which Polkinghorne did not attend.
"It was raised that he had met with one of our other doctors."
The doctor said Polkinghorne had "volunteered" to her that he had been using methamphetamine.
Corbett says they reported the disclosure he'd been using meth to the medical council.
The court is now taking a break and will resume in about 15 minutes.
Helen Van Berkel
Corbett says he knew Polkinghorne was considering retiring, and thought it would happen in 2023/24.
"We had a surprise exit of two doctors at around 2019... it was a difficult exit, because it was not something we'd anticipated as a practice.
"It caused a lot of stress for all the shareholders and I think probably more so for Philip."
Corbett says Polkinghorne's planned strategic exit, as opposed to the unplanned exit of the other two doctors, "altered the whole picture of how his payout, as it were, of his portion of the practice would be conducted".
The shareholder agreement was interpreted in different ways by the departing doctors and the remaining doctors, Corbett says, and a disagreement ensued.
The financial aspect of that disagreement affected Polkinghorne, Hanna suggested to Corbett.
"He was very concerned about his achieving the same exit value as the other two doctors," he says.
Corbett says he saw Hanna two weeks before her death, at a dinner party with the couples.
"We had a very pleasant evening. It ended fairly early."
It was a week after the Covid vaccines were being purchased.
He said he spoke very little to Hanna.
"The girls spent time down one end of the house and the boys down the other."
Polkinghorne was spoken to about anger at work, colleague says
Helen Van Berkel
McNabb: How often were you in contact with Hanna about this issue?
Corbett: About four or six times over about six months, around 2018/2019.
McNabb: What about Polkinghorne's appearance?
Corbett: Philip lost a lot of weight and put that down to exercise and diet.
"We all noticed that because it was quite a rapid weight loss."
The weight loss, Corbett believes, was over about 2015, 2016 to 2018.
The year before Hanna's death, Corbett says, Polkinghorne's behaviour became "increasingly different".
From the very early days, he was known to be early-to-bed and early-to-rise.
He was more emotional and seemed quite a different person.
"We all had our ideas on why that might be."
Some at Auckland Eye were concerned about his memory loss.
What had changed? asks McNabb.
Corbett says the two men worked at opposite ends of the building and admits he did not himself see a big change in behaviour.
"Most of it came from hearsay."
Did the doctors about Auckland Eye ever get together to make plans? asks McNabb.
Corbett says they had an annual strategic meeting. The last one before Hanna's death would have been October of 2020. Corbett and Polkinghorne were both at that meeting.
He doesn't recall anything about Polkinghorne's behaviour at that meeting.
Helen Van Berkel
Initially the relationship between Polkinghorne and Corbett was teacher-student but in 2000, it became a professional, collegial relationship, and a friendship.
He had been twice to Polkinghorne's beach house at Rings Beach, Coromandel. They also had dinner parties occasionally.
Corbett says he met Hanna in 1991 when he was a house surgeon at Auckland Hospital and she became a manager there.
He didn't get to know her more personally until after 2000.
What was Polkinghorne and Hanna's relationship like? McNabb asks.
"Outwardly it was always amazingly positive," Corbett says.
They would even dress in a complementary fashion at events, he said, and "seemed to adore each other".
What was Polkinghorne like at work? asks McNabb.
Corbett says he was "incredibly hard-working", with an "unusual demeanour" but had a "short fuse" and "intolerance to things going wrong in the operating theatre".
"He would get very upset if there would be something going wrong about the theatre staff's performance."
But it was never vindictive, and always in the patient's best interest, Corbett says.
When he was chairman of Auckland Eye in about 2018 and 2019, Corbett says, he phoned Hanna because of complaints from some theatre staff about Polkinghorne's aggressiveness towards them personally.
He says he phoned Hanna and explained that "his behaviour was presenting problems to the staff, which we felt were a risk to both the staff and the company".
Hanna, he recalls, "reflected my comments and accepted them and I got the impression that she was finding it difficult to communicate with Philip about that".
Helen Van Berkel
Auckland Eye was established around 1994 by four ophthalmologists, including Polkinghorne, Corbett says.
There are now 18 doctors at the practice.
All the current members of Auckland Eye are equal shareholders, Corbett explains, although some visiting doctors work as associates.
The 18 doctors buy shares in the practice, which is led by a board of directors that initially encompassed all the shareholders. Around 2009, it moved to a smaller appointed board, with some independent directors.
Prosecutor Pip McNabb asks Corbett how a person would get on to the board?
It's a voted position, at the AGM, Corbett says.
Terms are two or three years and people can be re-elected for a maximum of three terms.
Helen Van Berkel
Riordan goes to sit in the gallery.
The next Crown witness is ophthalmologist Dean Corbett, who explains he is a specialist in diseases and treatment of the eye. He has worked at Auckland Eye since 2000, and worked with Polkinghorne, whom he met in 1991.
Polkinghorne was a trainer when Corbett was studying, the trial hears.
Helen Van Berkel
Ron Mansfield ends his cross-examination.
Auckland Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock asks Victoria Pheasant Riordan to read a paragraph of her statement to police.
The witness complies: "In the duration of our relationship there has never, ever been a mention to me of suicide or self-harm, even in a throwaway manner," Riordan reads.
Hanna would often be stressed but never spoke about being unable to cope, the statement goes on to say.
Riordan reveals she previously had a high-powered job in Auckland before returning to rural Hawke's Bay. She said she knew about normal work stress from such a job, as she had held one, and didn't think Hanna's stress was beyond that.
Helen Van Berkel
Riordan goes on to again say she was overwhelmed when giving her first police statement.
"I suspect I was burbling at that stage."
Helen Van Berkel
Mansfield moves on to Riordan's comments to police about her impression of Hanna at her mother's funeral in February 2021: she told police Hanna's appearance was "quite shocking" and even "fragile and unhealthy".
Mansfield: There wasn't further conversation about her relationship with Philip when they met up on February 15 that year?
Riordan: No.
She also told police Hanna's behaviour was consistent with how she would be expected to act at a funeral.
Helen Van Berkel
Mansfield wades through the friends' largely mundane texts, occasionally describing emojis by saying "heart emoji flower" or similar.
Helen Van Berkel
In another text, Hanna seeks a poem from Riordan, which she wanted to read at her mother Fay's funeral.
Riordan, who has been a convincing and sympathetic witness, is unclear on a point.
"I'm very sorry, Mr Mansfield," she says. "I've just got myself a bit confused here. Sorry to dither."
Mansfield took apart the evidence of the two pathologists called by the Crown yesterday. But he has not made nearly as much headway with Hanna's two friends today.
Any efforts to undermine the credibility of their evidence appear less effective.
Helen Van Berkel
In more texts over later months, the two women discuss wanting to meet but struggle to co-ordinate their busy schedules. In one, Riordan said she was competing in an equestrian event at the "Waipuk show" – the Riordans live near Waipukurau.
Helen Van Berkel
Mansfield has resumed his cross-examination of Pauline Hanna's friend Victoria Pheasant Riordan, about the messages she exchanged with Hanna after the fateful dinner at Malo, where Hanna discussed her husband's apparent strangulation threat.
Helen Van Berkel
Justice Graham Lang has told the jury the court will move to another room in the Auckland High Court next week because the Supreme Court is sitting in the city next week, and Courtroom 11 is the only one big enough for the five judges who sit in New Zealand's highest court.
The Polkinghorne trial will move to Courtroom 13 down the corridor tomorrow afternoon. It's significantly smaller, and won't be able to fit nearly as many people in the public gallery.
Justice Lang has warned the people in the gallery they'll have to arrive particularly early to get a seat.
And because Ron Mansfield KC is in the Supreme Court on Monday morning, the Polkinghorne trial will not sit then.
Afternoon session about to start
Helen Van Berkel
Court is set to resume in 10 minutes.
To get into Courtroom 11 this afternoon, media and lawyers have had to push past at least a couple of dozen mostly older people who are coming to watch every moment, and who have massed in the corridor outside to ensure they get a seat.
During the morning sessions, the public gallery – comprising 75 seats – was all but full.
This morning, the trial heard from two friends of Pauline Hanna: Alison Ring and Victoria Pheasant Riordan.
Ring said Philip Polkinghorne had come to her home with a piece of paper after he was charged with murder – about 16 months after his wife's death – claiming it was a suicide note.
Ring said she didn't believe him. She said Polkinghorne had also made several derogatory comments about his dead wife and her sexual proclivities, which had shocked her.
Riordan said she had been friends with Hanna since they flatted together in Wellington in their teens while doing a secretarial course, when they "lived on potato soup and whisky".
She recounted a dinner at Malo in Havelock North in early 2020. Riordan said Hanna told her Polkinghorne had put his hands on her neck and said he could do it any time, or words to that effect, which she interpreted as a threat.
Lunch break called – trial resumes at 2.15pm
James Wheeler
Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC has moved back to the subsequent text messages between Pauline Hanna and her friend Victoria Pheasant Riordan after the dinner, when Riordan said she wishes she could take her friend's pain away.
She said in the message "we are strong, and we are there for you if you run out of strong".
"That's obviously what I texted to her," says Riordan.
Mansfield is trying to make hay on differences between what she said in her police statement and the text of the messages.
Justice Graham Lang has called the lunch break.
Riordan will return to the witness box about 2.15pm for more cross-examination from Mansfield.
The Herald's live coverage will resume then.
Defence quizzes witness on 'strangling' conversation
James Wheeler
Back to the dinner at Malo in Havelock North early in 2020.
Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC is asking Pauline Hanna's friend Victoria Pheasant Riordan if there were four people there: herself and John Riordan, her son Connor and Pauline Hanna. She confirms that's right.
She says she doesn't recall 2019 being a bad year being brought up at the dinner.
Earlier, the trial heard Hanna had told them her husband had put his hands on her neck and said he could do that at any point, which the Riordans took to be a threat.
She says she doesn't recall much else of the dinner besides Hanna mentioning what she called the "strangling".
"How old was Connor, at the time?" Mansfield asks.
"He would be 25, 26," Riordan says.
Riordan confirms he was there and recalls the situation.
"Can I just understand what you say happened," says Mansfield.
Riordan says at the restaurant, Hanna earlier met a family friend Ginny for a drink and they were talking when the Riordans arrived.
Ginny left and Hanna and the Riordans sat down for dinner.
She says Hanna had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner after drinks with her friend.
At what stage in the dinner did the conversation arise (presumably about the strangling)? Mansfield asks.
"Well, it came at the end of that dinner, because it kind of ended the dinner," says Riordan.
So what time did the dinner start?
Riordan: I'm picking seven.
Mansfield: When did it end?
Riordan: Nine? She isn't sure.
Riordan reaffirms she believes the conversation happened at the end of the dinner.
Mansfield says Riordan had told police Philip Polkinghorne had placed his hands on her neck, overlapped as she had shown them in the interview, and again today in the witness box.
Riordan says Hanna had shown them, with her hands, how Polkinghorne placed his hands on her neck.
The "gist" of what she was saying was that he had said he could do it at any time.
Riordan is asked if she can recall anything about how this conversation came about or what it related to.
Riordan: Not specifically, no.
Riordan admits the comment that he could do it at any time might not have been the exact words.
"The inference was clear," said Riordan.
Mansfield: So that's what you took from whatever words she used?
Riordan: Yes.
Riordan says Hanna had put her hands on her throat before conveying that Polkinghorne had told her words to the effect of 'he could do it at any time'.
Mansfield: You don't seem to specifically say the words she used and it seems that you're being careful to say they weren't her exact words?
Riordan says she was trying to be careful and clarify that if she didn't use those exact words, that it was what she was saying.
Mansfield: She doesn't say when in time or whereabouts when this happened?
Riordan says she did not. She says she also can't recall the context.
"It was so dramatic and alarming that I don't recall everything. I apologise, but I can't."
Hanna was staying nearby and did not need to drive and could relax.
The revelation about the strangulation threat put an end to the evening, says Riordan.
Mansfield says it sounded like the evening was winding down anyway.
"A lot of that evening became quite blurred after that conversation occurred," says Riordan.
Mansfield: Sometimes after dinner, Pauline would stay up later and chat with your husband?
Riordan: Correct.
What was the time, at Upland Rd, when she went to bed and her husband and Hanna kept drinking?
"Knowing me, it was probably 10 o'clock."
Back once again to the dinner at Malo in Havelock North.
Riordan confirms that apart from what she said Polkinghorne did with the strangulation, that she does not remember the conversation leading up to that statement.
"I remember being very shocked, the evening came to an end, I couldn't tell you what time that was," says Riordan.
She then dropped her son home as Hanna returned to the nearby boutique hotel, Porters.
2019 a bad year for relationship, friend says
James Wheeler
Had Pauline Hanna made it clear 2019 wasn't a great year for her relationship with Philip Polkinghorne? Ron Mansfield KC asks.
And part of that were the issues at Auckland Eye, affecting their finances and when he could retire? the defence lawyer adds.
Yes, Hanna's friend Victoria Pheasant Riordan says.
Riordan then says she never spoke to Philip Polkinghorne about the issues.
Riordan told police Hanna had spoken to her about her husband having to pay a significant amount of money, after someone had left the partnership suddenly and needed to be paid out by the board.
Regarding the year 2019, Riordan tells the court: "I think it was a difficult period, but not insurmountable."
Riordan then says to Mansfield: "If you could rephrase it better so I could answer that please?"
Justice Graham Lang then interjects, saying the witness wants clarity on whether 2019 being a terrible year were her words from her statement, or the lawyer's words.
Back on track now. Riordan confirms the financial issues were part of why 2019 was a bad year for the couple.
'Philip undermined Pauline a lot in your presence', friend tells court
James Wheeler
Pauline Hanna's friend Victoria Pheasant Riordan told police Hanna had always been relatively healthy.
She agrees she meant her friend always liked to keep herself fit and keep her appearance to a high standard.
"We didn't talk about her dietary habits," says Riordan.
However, she later said to police Hanna had lost weight, but denies she told police the work stress contributed to the weight loss.
"I don't necessarily see them as connected," she says.
Riordan is not giving defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC an inch.
"When we were younger, Pauline was quite round so I have seen her go through those stages," she says.
"At the time that we last saw her, she looked to be a lot slimmer."
Riordan told police "I was aware that Pauline had a drinking problem", according to her statement.
You don't say "at one point here", says Mansfield.
Riordan again says her mind was a jumble at the time of her statement, and her statement did not preclude Hanna having cut back.
"I may have said those words but that doesn't necessarily take into account the inflections."
Riordan also told police "I felt Philip would use this against her" in relation to her drinking problem, according to her statement.
"That would be correct," says Riordan.
"Philip undermined Pauline a lot in your presence. He would say things like... not quite Pauline's a drunk, but it would come into the conversation so I made the assumption that it wasn't a one-off thing."
Riordan remembers a particular dinner at Upland Rd in Remuera where Polkinghorne was very rude about Hanna's drinking and used it as a criticism of her.
Defence questions friend on Pauline Hanna's work stress
James Wheeler
Was Pauline Hanna proud of her work? asks defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC.
"Oh yes," Hanna's friend Victoria Pheasant Riordan tells the court.
She confirms Hanna had talked about her various promotions.
Mansfield: Did she talk about feeling stressed or being stressed?
Riordan: Sorry, yes.
Mansfield: How many times did she say that?
Riordan: The conversations about her work tended to be more about how she enjoyed how she was doing.
Riordan: I define stress at work more about... workload than a negative.
Mansfield: How many times did she raise her stress at work?
"I couldn't tell you," says Riordan, saying they would more often speak about family or other topics.
"She never mentioned the inability to cope with the stress, but more as a natural part of that type of job," says Riordan.
"The stress was never debilitating," says Riordan.
Riordan firmly tells the KC: "I don't put the same weight on it as you do" when asked about her comments to police about Hanna's busy, sometimes stressful role.
Defence begins cross-examination: Friend 'was very aware of Pauline Hanna taking anti-depressants'
James Wheeler
Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC begins by asking Victoria Pheasant Riordan how old they were when she and Pauline Hanna they got to know each other well.
Hanna was 19 and Riordan was 17, she says.
They then came to live together partway through the secretarial course in the late 1970s, flatting in Khandallah.
"I think we lived on potato soup and whisky," says Riordan, to further laughter from the gallery.
"We both moved on from that sort of thing once we finished at polytech."
Riordan says she has not drunk a drop for 25 years.
"Well done," says Mansfield.
Mansfield is on to what Riordan told police about Hanna's wellbeing at the time of her death.
She confirms she says she was "pretty sure Pauline was on anti-depressants".
"When I had the police interview, I was naturally very upset and probably garbled a bit."
"I was very aware of her taking anti-depressants."
Riordan is an excellent witness. She is clearly still distressed at her friend's death and sometimes needs to pause to wipe a tear, but speaks slowly and precisely, not straying too much into speculation or ever appearing to embellish or exaggerate.
'She found that disturbing'
James Wheeler
The court heard an incredulous “no” when Auckland Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock asks if Pauline Hanna had ever raised the possibility of hurting herself.
However, her friend Victoria Pheasant Riordan says there was a period of time when she was concerned about her drinking.
Remember: earlier, defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC said Hanna had tried to kill herself in 1992 and had expressed suicidal thoughts to a clinician about 20 years later, being referred to a mental health crisis team as a result.
None of the many friends or workmates or relatives of Hanna said they knew anything about the 1992 attempt or the alleged 2013 suicidal ideation.
It wasn't that she drank alone, says Riordan, it was that she had a couple more than anybody else had.
What about the intimate details of her relationship with Philip? asks McClintock.
“She spoke about Philip's seemingly insatiable desire to have sex,” says Riordan.
“She recalled a time when they were having sex and the phone rang and he answered the phone whilst they were having sex and she found that disturbing.
“That was the extent of her conversations about her sex life.”
She believes that conversation came after the couple had moved to their home in Upland Rd in Auckland's Remuera.
But she says she wasn't aware of the other sordid details to emerge at trial, including group sex sessions in Sydney.
Pauline Hanna stressed, maybe, but never unable to cope – friend
James Wheeler
Pauline Hanna's friend Victoria Pheasant Riordan is asked to place the visit to Auckland: was it before or after the Malo dinner where the throttling threat emerged?
Riordan can't place it.
Riordan is asked about the conversation with Hanna where she aired concerns about their finances. It related to a partner in Auckland Eye leaving and the resultant payout, Riordan believes.
Auckland Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock is asking about evidence heard earlier in the trial that Hanna took anti-depressants. Was Riordan aware of that?
“Oh yeah, who doesn't?” said Riordan matter-of-factly, to more laughs from the gallery.
How close was their friendship? asks McClintock.
Riordan says there was always that love for each other but their lives had drifted apart.
They'd moved to central Hawke's Bay and Hanna was “doing her high-flying thing in Auckland”, Riordan tells the court.
“I think Pauline had a very busy, fulfilling life, so the amount of time that we directly communicated was less,” Riordan says.
Riordan says she never perceived Hanna's work stress as being any more than what you'd expect from a high-powered job.
Stressed, maybe, but never unable to cope, says Riordan.
“She was such an accomplished person, but you do get stress with jobs like that.”
'And then Philip came home...the whole mood changed'
James Wheeler
Pauline Hanna's friend Victoria Pheasant Riordan tells the court she saw Hanna again a few times in 2020, after the February 2020 messages just referred to.
As her mother Fay's health deteriorated, Hanna would come down more and more, the trial hears.
The public gallery now has the better part of 60 people packed in, including a group of pupils from Edgewater College, who have made a school trip to the Auckland High Court.
Riordan says she spoke to Hanna at her mother Fay's funeral in February of 2021.
Philip Polkinghorne was also at the funeral, she says.
Riordan says Hanna seemed to be in control, but sad, in keeping with someone who had watched her ailing mother die.
Riordan remembers staying with the couple in Auckland.
She was really animated and excited about her new role.
"And then Philip came home," she says.
"The whole mood changed."
He was late for dinner, Riordan says, and may have been drinking.
"He wasn't particularly interested in the conversation or what was happening with Pauline. It wasn't the first time he had seemed to be dismissive of her."
Why do you say dismissive? asks Auckland Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock.
"It's quite hard looking back... just not joining in the conversation. He went to bed early. There was just a sense that he wasn't interested in anything," Riordan says.
"Pauline had a habit of always trying to put a spin, a positive spin, on things. And then Philip went to bed... Pauline and John stayed up chatting."
Crown questions friend after Pauline Hanna told her husband had placed hands around her neck
James Wheeler
Auckland Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock is back to the dinner in 2020, at Malo, in Havelock North.
She is still questioning Pauline Hanna's friend Victoria Pheasant Riordan.
Hanna was staying at the hotel next door, Porters Boutique Hotel, Riordan says.
She had contacted Hanna the next day, via text.
She replied to the effective of "it would be all right", Riordan remembers.
In a message, cited by McClintock as evidence, Riordan says to Hanna she wishes she could help take her pain away.
The messages were between Pauline Hanna and Victoria Phesant Riordan following a dinner early in 2020, when Hanna had said her husband had placed his hands around her neck and warned he could do that any time.
Did you follow up again with her? asks McClintock.
Yes, says Riordan.
The messages from Hanna go on to say that "P.J.P." is in a much better frame of mind, which made things much easier.
Did that allay your concerns? asks McClintock.
Perhaps as far as physical violence, says Riordan. But the relationship generally, the witness says.
James Wheeler
Recap as trial resumes
James Wheeler
To recap the two key claims to emerge from an extraordinary morning of evidence:
Alison Ring, a friend of Polkinghorne and Hanna's, said Polkinghorne came to her home after he was charged and produced what he claimed to be a suicide note he had found.
Earlier, the trial heard how police did not find any evidence of a note, despite a scene examination lasting 11 days at the Remuera home.
The note read "Dear P, I love you forever, from P".
He had claimed to have found it in the linen. Ring says she was not convinced the note was real. She says she had always found it odd how Hanna didn't leave a note.
"She took that as a threat, a real threat that he might do that to her," Riordan says. They had urged her to leave him, she says.
Another friend of Hanna's, Victoria Pheasant Riordan, recounted a dinner with Hanna in early 2020.
After a few drinks, Hanna had confided that Polkinghorne had once put his hands around her neck and said he could do it any time.
"She took that as a threat, a real threat that he might do that to her," Riordan said. They had urged her to leave him, she said.
Court is about to resume.
'We were really quite stressed': Friend questioned over trial bombshell
James Wheeler
Riordan: We immediately reacted and said to her that she needed to leave him.
Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock: Had she said anything like this before?
Riordan: In terms of physical violence, she had not shared that with us.
Riordan: We knew that there were problems and we knew that there were financial issues and we knew that there were emotional... [witness trails off]
McClintock clarifies: Is this the first time Hanna had mentioned physical violence?
Riordan: Yes.
She says "we both said it" in regards to the instruction that Hanna should leave Polkinghorne.
Riordan is on the verge of tears.
"We were really quite stressed," says Riordan, "and wanted her to leave".
But she says Hanna was "backing away" from the idea of leaving her husband.
"For John, Connor and I to hear that was quite hard," says Riordan.
Justice Graham Lang has decided to take the adjournment after an explosive morning of evidence, as the witness struggles to regain her composure in the witness box.
The trial is likely to resume in about 15 minutes.
Trial bombshell: Witness says Polkinghorne previously put hands around wife's neck as a threat
James Wheeler
Pauline Hanna's friend Victoria Pheasant Riordan is asked by the prosecution about another visit.
Riordan says Pauline had emailed to say she was coming down and wanted to catch up and have dinner with the couple.
This was in 2020. Hanna's godson was also there, Connor Riordan.
What is it about this dinner that stood out for you? asks Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock.
We started with discussion about Fay, says Riordan, and then got on to the subject of her marriage to Philip Polkinghorne.
She'd had a few drinks by that point, says Riordan.
Riordan: She became quite agitated and described to us that Philip had done this to her.
Riordan has her hands around her neck with her thumbs on either side of her wind pipe.
He had told her he could "do that any time".
Riordan: She took that as a threat, a real threat that he might do that to her.
Riordan: He said to her, I can do this any time.
Polkinghorne 'very controlling' from early in his relationship with Pauline, trial hears
James Wheeler
The Crown questioning of Pauline Hanna's friend Victoria Pheasant Riordan continues.
Philip Polkinghorne had children from a previous marriage and initially "gave her a bit of a hard time", Riordan remembers. But the relationship improved.
Riordan is asked if Hanna was immaculately presented. She dressed casually as a student, the witness says, but once she did her MBA and returned to Auckland she was always "beautifully presented" and wore "lovely makeup".
Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock: How was Philip and Pauline's relationship?
Riordan: "From the get-go, Philip came across as very controlling."
Riordan says at a surprise birthday for her husband John, Philip and Pauline came down to the Hawke's Bay.
Early on, he wanted to go. She told us he was having a problem with his contact lens and wanted to leave. She was making excuses for Polkinghorne, says Riordan.
How was she when she was just with you and John? asks McClintock.
"Relaxed is probably the word that comes to mind," says Riordan.
McClintock: Would they come down to Hawke's Bay from time to time?
Riordan: Yes, to visit her mother, Fay Hanna.
"But Philip would always insist that they stayed in a motel."
They stayed at a motel in Waipukurau instead of at the Hanna property.
McClintock is on to Fay's death in February 2021.
Riordan says she knew her well and discussed with Pauline Hanna a lot about Fay's dementia, as her own mother had suffered from Alzheimer's.
Friend recalls how Pauline met Philip: Flowers and 'a lot of interest'
James Wheeler
Evidence from Pauline Hanna's friend Victoria Pheasant Riordan continues.
Riordan recalls Hanna went overseas in about 1984 or 1985, after Riordan's wedding.
Then, Pheasant and John moved to Auckland. Hanna remained overseas.
Now on to Hanna meeting Philip Polkinghorne.
Riordan said Hanna had returned from doing her MBA at Otago University in 1993.
At the time, Hanna was still with an earlier partner, called Graham, whom she had met in Otago.
She was at the District Health Board already by then, says Riordan.
The witness isn't 100%, but says Hanna confided in her that Philip Polkinghorne had taken an interest with her.
He was an ophthalmologist who worked at the hospital and pursued her, buying her flowers and generally showing a lot of interest, Hanna had told her friend.
Riordan says she was the "matron of honour" at Hanna and Philip's wedding at the Hanna family farm just out of Havelock North.
She didn't spend much time with them after they were married but once went to dinner at Philip's place before Upland Rd, in Orakei Rd.
Riordan is not quite as self-assured in the witness box as prior witness Alison Ring.
Hanna was Riordan's son's godmother.
Crown calls friend of Pauline Hanna's from Hawke's Bay
James Wheeler
The Crown has called a woman called Victoria Pheasant Riordan – a friend of Pauline Hanna's, who has appeared wearing a cream power suit.
She goes by the name Pheasant, the trial hears.
The trial heard earlier this is a family friend of Hanna's from Hawke's Bay.
She is from central Hawke's Bay, where she lives with her husband John.
Auckland Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock is leading Riordan's evidence.
She was 17 when she met Hanna and had gone down to Wellington to do a secretarial course.
They ended up flatting together in Khandallah. This was in 1978.
Hanna was a couple of years older than her.
“We were doing a secretarial course at the Wellington polytechnic.”
They flatted together for six or seven months. Riordan then came back to Hawke's Bay, where they had both grown up. Hanna lived in Havelock North with her parents.
Straight after a secretarial course at polytech, Pauline went back to her family farm just out of Hastings.
Riordan said Hanna had convinced me to go overseas, where she met her husband John.
When Riordan was overseas, Hanna remained in New Zealand, though she would head abroad later.
Hanna was her bridesmaid.
'He's having an affair': Friend says Pauline Hanna saw photos on Polkinghorne's computer
James Wheeler
Mansfield is now asking Pauline Hanna's friend, Alison Ring, about December 9, 2020, a “Churchill event at the Northern Club”.
The trial earlier heard Polkinghorne was a huge fan of Winston Churchill.
Both Polkinghorne and Ring's husband were members of the Northern Club. Only Polkinghorne was a member of the separate Churchill club.
Hanna arrived, and everyone was in long gowns, but she had a short skirt on.
“She looked gorgeous,” Ring says.
But she was agitated at the difference in her dress. So Ring took her to the dining table so she could hide her knees.
“We had a good laugh about hiding her knees under the table.”
Ring agrees she mentioned things were a bit fraught at home but she didn't elaborate.
And you took that, asks Mansfield, to be connected to the issues at his workplace?
Yes I did, says Ring.
Mansfield goes back to another Northern Club event in 2019, when Hanna told Ring: “He's having an affair.” She knew where it was because she saw the photographs on Polkinghorne's computer.
She said: “I'm not tolerating him having an affair in my space,” Ring remembers.
Ring says Hanna said more than that: “I don't care how many prostitutes he f**** in Sydney but I'm not tolerating him having somebody in my space”.
She was really really angry, Ring says, and used the word affair rather than prostitute for the local liaison.
Ring asked her what she was going to do, she said.
Had she, Mansfield asks, at that point talked about their extramarital sexual relations with others?
Ring: Yes.
Mansfield: So you were aware their sexual experiences weren't just limited to their home marriage?
Ring: Yes.
Ring said Hanna told her she was going to get a lawyer, sort out her finances and get a will, and if her husband didn't sort himself out, she would leave him.
Mansfield: Was the topic again raised with you in those later discussions?
Ring: No... because she hadn't left him I assumed they'd worked it out.
Ring agrees she didn't know how they'd worked it out.
Mansfield: Did you know as a result of his frustrations at Auckland Eye that he was going to try to get on the board?
Ring: Yes.
Mansfield: Were the frustrations around what was fair and equitable for someone to get on their retirement?
Ring: Yes.
She is agreeing with Mansfield he had committed a big part of his life to Auckland Eye and enjoyed a good reputation.
Mansfield asks how old her husband is and if he had retired.
She asks if she has to answer that and a laugh ripples through the court.
Mansfield allows her to say merely that retirement is on the horizon, although that horizon might be rapidly approaching.
Moving on to how and when she heard about Hanna's death.
She spoke to Polkinghorne's sister Ruth, Ring now says, again slightly different from what her statement says, because Polkinghorne was distressed.
He told her that he'd let her down and didn't want to be here (alive) and wanted to be with her.
With both Crown and defence questioning finished, Alison Ring is free to go.
Pauline Hanna confided in friend Polkinghorne had been aggressive and she was worried about his mental health
James Wheeler
Still with the defence cross-examination of Pauline Hanna's friend Alison Ring:
Mansfield is asking whether she wanted to assist by providing derogatory information about Polkinghorne to the prosecution.
"My aim was... my aim was to get the facts out about the way Philip was behaving and the fact that I felt like I had been manipulated by him."
"He didn't have a reason to lie to me because I had supported to him all the way."
Were you trying to support him? asks Mansfield.
"Yes, he was a friend," says Ring.
Mansfield is now referring to communications between Ring and Pauline Hanna on June 5, 2020.
They were at the Northern Club for dinner, Ring concedes, not at her home – another error in her police statement.
Ring said Hanna mentioned her husband was depressed and not coping well.
She didn't say whether it was about his work, Ring said, but that he was aggressive and she was worried about his mental health.
Mansfield is suggesting Polkinghorne was agitated about what was happening at Auckland Eye.
Ring's husband does the same work in ophthalmology but at a different practice, not Auckland Eye.
Ring says she was told Polkinghorne's retirement would have to be pushed out because the retirement payout was to be lower than expected.
Friend cross-examined over 'suicide note'
James Wheeler
After that bombshell, defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC is on his feet for his cross-examination.
He's starting where Pauline Hanna's friend Alison Ring finished off, in relation to the note.
Mansfield: It was on a green piece of paper, correct?
"I didn't say green," Ring says icily.
Ring is now saying it might have been green.
"He found a piece of paper and he showed it to me."
Ring says Polkinghorne had claimed he found it in the linen, on his bed.
But Mansfield is quoting her police statement saying she was told he'd found it in his bed.
The linen was on his bed, says Ring.
"When I actually said it to the Crown solicitor, I hadn't realised it was all being noted down."
Ring concedes the record may not be correct.
Ring again says she always thought Hanna would write a suicide note.
When do you say this conversation took place? asks Mansfield.
"It was after he was charged, before August of that year," Ring says.
When did she first tell the police of this note? Mansfield asks.
"It was well after, well after I made my statement," Ring says.
Mansfield asks if that was on June 14, 2024.
Ring doesn't answer.
The defence lawyer is suggesting she was mistaken about the purpose why Polkinghorne showed him the note.
Ring says no, she's not mistaken.
The derogatory comments about Hanna, asks Mansfield, were they after he was charged?
Yes, says Ring.
Mansfield is referring to various witness statements that are then disclosed to Polkinghorne and his defence team.
He would then be aware of what other people had said about him and the case, says Mansfield.
"He was talking to you or talking about the nature of the case against him, and his response," says Mansfield.
No, says Ring, he just would come in, I'd be at the kitchen bench, and he would "blurt it out".
"I wouldn't be asking about Pauline and their sexual relationship."
Mansfield: And this is something you first decided to report on 14 June 2024, so just prior to trial?
Ring: Correct.
A long pause.
Polkinghorne showed friend supposed 'suicide note' year after wife's death, trial hears
James Wheeler
Still with the Crown questioning Pauline Hanna's friend Alison Ring.
Philip Polkinghorne said after Hanna's death: “I've let her down. I wish I was dead and I wish I was with her,” Ring remembers him saying.
He told Ring that he'd moved the chair and had taken the belt off her neck, the trial hears.
Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey: Did you have ongoing contact with Philip?
Ring: Yes, we supported Philip as much as we could.
Dickey: Did that change?
Ring: Yes it did slightly.
Ring says they always had an open home where he could visit.
On another visit, after the news broke that meth had been found in the Polkinghorne home, she says Polkinghorne claimed the meth was Pauline's.
“You expect me to believe that, but I don't,” she told him.
Ring also says she was devastated to learn Polkinghorne had been at the Mt Cook chalet with escort Madison Ashton only three or four weeks after his wife's death.
“But we still continued to see him.”
“He'd come round. And then he would say things like 'oh she wouldn't just f*** one man, she'd f*** the team'.”
Ring says she'd say to him she didn't need to know this stuff. And then he'd move on.
He would also say “she couldn't get her clothes off fast enough”.
The biggest upset, says Ring, was when Polkinghorne came around one evening with a little bit of paper and claimed she did leave a suicide note.
Ring says it read: “Dear P, I love you forever, from P”.
“I said 'well that's not the type of suicide note I'd be expecting from Pauline'.”
Polkinghorne claimed it was in the bedding.
She says she couldn't believe Pauline didn't leave any suicide note, because she always used to leave notes about everything.
“I was very distressed, and I had a few sleepless nights over it, because it just didn't sit with me.”
That caused a bit of distance between them.
"It caused me a lot of distress actually."
That suicide note incident was after Philip was charged with murder.
That was the last she saw of Polkinghorne but Ring says they still communicated via text.
Friend of Hanna recalls conversation on “verbally abusive”, “very very difficult” Polkinghorne
James Wheeler
Pauline Hanna's friend Alison Ring's evidence continues.
She tells the court Hanna had told her the job was challenging but she was enjoying her work and wasn't thinking at all about leaving.
“Her last words to me were 'Polk has been trying his best over the last few weeks'," Ring says.
Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey: Was there a previous conversation about that issue?
Ring: Yes, a conversation last year where she said he was “verbally abusive” erratic, and “very, very difficult”.
Ring is remembering a dinner where Polkinghorne was “extremely agitated about Auckland Eye”.
The dinner was at the Northern Club in central Auckland, an exclusive club just down the road from where this trial is being heard.
“She said she was really really worried about Polk's mental health,” Ring says.
“He was aggressive, verbally aggressive, didn't say physically.”
Earlier, the trial repeatedly heard how Polkinghorne had lost a lot of money through issues at Auckland Eye.
In particular, his retirement payout had reduced a lot because it was calculated on the last two years of work, which had reduced due to the Covid pandemic.
He was trying to get back on the board to change the way the payouts were calculated, the trial heard earlier.
At the dinner, Ring says Hanna said her husband was “argumentative, condescending, putting her down”.
Another conversation six months after the Northern Club dinner: Ring says in this chat, Hanna said there were people at Auckland Eye – the private ophthalmology clinic – who were worried about “Polk's” mental health.
Hanna had also told her “Polk's having an affair”.
This is direct evidence of information the trial heard earlier suggesting Polkinghorne was having an affair with someone the couple knew.
She told Ring she “broke into his computer and saw obscene photography”.
Ring quoting Hanna: “I don't care how many prostitutes he f**** in Sydney, but he's not going to have anybody in my space.”
Ring said what are you going to do about it? Hanna said he was going to see a lawyer and sort out her will and finances.
“And if he doesn't give her up, I'm leaving him,” Ring quotes Hanna as saying.
Dickey: Have you been to their home?
Ring: Actually I went for a dinner there after Pauline's death.
Crown calls friend of Pauline Hanna first up
James Wheeler
The jury is in and the Crown has called Alison Ring – a friend of Pauline Hanna's.
“I met Pauline through Philip Polkinghorne,” she says in a lilting Welsh accent.
Her husband is an ophthalmologist too, like Polkinghorne.
“I would class us as good friends,” she says of the two couples.
Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey is leading her evidence.
“We'd meet for dinner many times throughout the years,” Ring says.
They went on “walking holidays” and on a canal barge holiday in France.
Asked about Hanna: “She was great fun,” Ring says.
“Thirty years I've known her, we didn't have a bad word.”
Polkinghorne was very respectful towards her and they had lots of fun together, says Ring.
Ring says at the time of Hanna's death, she was about to head on a four-wheel-drive trip with the Rings, Hanna and Polkinghorne, and several other couples.
“She was so excited about going,” Ring says.
She saw Pauline eight or nine days before she died, at a “celebration of life” for a friend who had died.
Ring says she spoke to Hanna about the recent passing of Pauline's mother.
She asked if she was okay, and Hanna replied that she was fine and “coping with everything”.
Ring asked if she'd allowed herself time to grieve
She said she was fine.
“She was philosophical about the death of an elderly mother,” Ring says.
Trial resumes
James Wheeler
Court is set to resume and the public gallery is as full as it has been since the start of the trial two and a half weeks ago.
There are about 60 people in the Auckland High Court's Courtroom 11, including lawyers, detectives, law students, members of Pauline Hanna's family, and as usual a sizeable and growing contingent of people with no links to the case but who have a keen interest in proceedings.
Day 3, week 3 of the trial begins at 10am
Sophie Ryan
Welcome to the Herald’s live coverage of the third day of the third week of the murder trial of Philip Polkinghorne.
Court will resume at 10am when the Crown will call a new witness. The jury hasn’t heard who.
Yesterday was another big day of evidence in the keenly watched trial of Polkinghorne, the Remuera eye surgeon accused of killing his wife Pauline Hanna and staging the scene to look like a suicide.
He says she hanged herself, overworked, harried and bullied in her hectic Covid vaccine logistics role. At one point there were about 50 people in the public gallery, including members of the Hanna family who had recently finished giving evidence.
The Crown called forensic pathologist Dr Kilak Kesha, who conducted the autopsy of Hanna’s body on April 6, 2021, the day after Polkinghorne called 111 to say his wife had hanged herself.
Initially it appeared Kesha may have delivered a major win for the Crown case.
He said the fact the belt mark on Hanna’s neck had all but disappeared, between the police arriving at the home in Upland Rd and the time of his autopsy the following day, indicated the belt had been on her neck after death.
Then defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC got to his feet and began what was a surgical cross-examination, revealing much of the evidence of Kesha, and another pathologist, Dr Martin Sage, to be equivocal and inconclusive.
Kesha quickly conceded there was another possibility behind the disappearing belt mark on Hanna’s neck – that it had been used in her death, but had been removed shortly after she died. This is essentially what the defence says happened, that Polkinghorne loosened the ligature soon after discovering his wife dead, just as the 111 call-taker had instructed.
Kesha said his finding of “neck compression” as the cause of death did not mean he preferred any of the possible causes of the compression, such as manual or ligature strangulation, or partial- or full-suspension hanging. "I cannot rule out one over the other," he said, referring to the possible mechanisms, suicide or intentional strangulation, of the neck compression.
The minor abrasions and bruises he found on Hanna’s body were nowhere near the level or extent the pathologist would expect for someone who was strangled, given the propensity of strangulation victims to fight back, he said.
A pathologist enlisted by the defence, Mansfield revealed, concluded Hanna had died by partial-suspension hanging.
Kesha said he communicated with the defence pathologist afterwards, saying he didn't disagree, but felt he could not rule out the possibility of a fatal assault, albeit one which left no real injuries of the extent that would be expected.
As we wait for the evidence to begin, read what others made of yesterday’s proceedings: Philip Polkinghorne’s trial: A science lesson at the Auckland High Court - Steve Braunias
STORY CONTINUES
Riordan told jurors Hanna’s disclosure about the prior strangling incident came in January 2020, as the two sat down for dinner at Malo, a restaurant in Havelock North. Hanna had come down to visit her mother, who was suffering dementia, and Riordan lived about 45 minutes away.
It wasn’t the first time she was left with a bad impression of Polkinghorne, but it was by far the most disturbing, Riordan testified.
“From the get-go [of their marriage], Philip came across as controlling,” she said, explaining that Hanna would make excuses for her husband. However, she said, her friend had never told her about violence in the marriage until that occasion.
At the restaurant, Riordan recalled the mood changing suddenly immediately after the revelation. She, her husband and her adult son all encouraged Hanna to leave her husband.
But Hanna’s response, as the night ended, was that “it would be okay”, the friend recalled.
“She kind of backed away,” Riordan said. “It was almost, I think, that she didn’t want to talk about it. That’s my impression. Things were a bit emotional at that point.”
The next day, Riordan sent a follow-up text to her friend, saying, among other things: “I wish I could take some of your pain away”. Jurors were shown a copy of the text.
The two exchanged texts again a month later. This time Hanna replied: “A good couple of weeks here as PJP [Polkinghorne] in much better frame of mind which makes everyone so much nicer. His old self!”.
Riordan said the message set her mind at ease a little bit in terms of her fears about “physical violence”, but she continued to have concerns about the relationship for some time. She would bring it up again from time to time when Hanna would return for visits with her mum.
“We talked about it and she kept on assuring us that everything was okay,” Riordan recalled. “It didn’t seem right to push it.”
She said her longtime friend was open about her use of antidepressants, which Riordan didn’t see as anything out of the ordinary. She was aware her friend had a stressful job but did not see any indication that the stress was unusual for such a “high-flying” position.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC noted that the bill for that dinner was more than $500 and suggested that everyone had been drinking.
Riordan responded that Hanna had been drinking, as had her husband and son, but she had not had a drink in 25 years. While her memory about what they did after the revelation might not be clear because she was so upset by it, she was adamant that Hanna’s demonstration of the choking was unforgettable.
As for Polkinghorne’s alleged threat that he could “do that at any time”, Riordan acknowledged that she wasn’t certain if those were the exact words Hanna said or if it was simply the gist of what she was saying.
“The inference was clear,” she said. “This was so dramatic and alarming that I don’t recall everything.”
The witness also disagreed with how the defence was portraying her thoughts on Hanna’s stress level.
“As you’re reading it to me, it sounds like you’re making it more prominent than I would recall as my life experience of it,” she said. “It is one of the things I spoke to police about, but I didn’t put the same weight on it that you do.”
Mansfield then quoted her police statement back to her: “She is often stressed due to work. She was very busy and had a lot going on”.
Riordan’s testimony came directly after Alison Ring, who had been a friend of Hanna and Polkinghorne for about three decades. Ring also described a series of revelations Hanna had made about her marriage troubles in the years before her death.
She recalled a dinner the couples had together at the Northern Club in June 2020 in which Polkinghorne had been “extremely agitated” about issues with Auckland Eye, the company from which he was trying to retire.
At some point, she recalled, she walked off with Hanna for a private conversation.
“She told me she was extremely worried about Polk’s mental health,” Ring recalled.
“She said she was really, really worried. He was difficult to live with, he was verbally aggressive - didn’t say physically, and she couldn’t depend on him.”
Ring said she suggested Polkinghorne see a counsellor and her friend agreed it was a good idea.
About six months later, Hanna again told Ring that she was worried about Polkinghorne and that people at Auckland Eye were also worried.
Although she couldn’t put a date on it, Ring also recounted a conversation in Hanna sometime in 2019 or 2020 in which Hanna said her husband was having an affair. Hanna said she found out by looking at his laptop.
“I don’t care how many prostitutes he f***s in Sydney, but I will not tolerate him having an affair with someone in my space,” she recalled Hanna saying.
Ring said that when she asked Hanna what she was going to do about it, the friend said she had a plan.
“I’m going to see a lawyer and write a will and I’m going to sort out my finances,” she recalled Hanna saying.
Prosecutors speculated in their opening address earlier this month that Polkinghorne and Hanna might have been arguing about finances, a “double life” he had been leading with an Australian sex worker or the exorbitant amount of money he had been spending on sex workers when Hanna died.
Ring said she continued to support Polkinghorne after Hanna’s death, noting that he was “very distraught” when he told her and her husband about what had happened.
“I let her down,” she recalled him saying. “I wish I was dead. I wish I was with her.”
But they drifted apart, she said, after a series of strange interactions in the years since Hanna’s death.
Ring recalled she would often muse how unlikely she found it that Hanna would kill herself without leaving a note, given how frequently Hanna sent out notes to friends and loved ones. Then one day, she recalled, Polkinghorne stopped by their home with a four-inch-by-four inch slip of coloured paper with faded writing and said he had found a suicide note.
“I looked at him and I said, ‘You expect me to believe that? Because I don’t.”
The note, she said, read: “Dear P, I love you forever, from P.”
Polkinghorne told her he had found it in their bedding, she said. She wondered why he had shown her and not police.
“I was very distressed and I had a few sleepless nights over it, because it didn’t sit with me at all,” she said. “It did cause a lot of distress.”
Defence lawyer Mansfield later suggested it had been a misunderstanding and that his client had simply said he found “a note” - not a suicide note.
Ring adamantly disagreed.
“I felt I was being manipulated by him,” she said. “When he came around with that note that was just the last thing. He didn’t have a reason to lie to me because I was supporting him anyway.”
The trial, which is expected to last six weeks, continues this afternoon before Justice Graham Lang and the jury.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
The Herald will be covering the case in a daily podcast, Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial. You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, through The Front Page feed, or wherever you get your podcasts.