Philip Polkinghorne trial: Eye surgeon’s defence case begins

Friday, 30 August 2024

Warning: The details of this case may be distressing for some readers.

Three months before Pauline Hanna’s death, a friend said she looked like she was “very stressed”, had lost a lot of weight, and was “struggling to cope what was going on around her”, the court heard Friday.

Gillian Reid was one of the witnesses called to give evidence for the defence case, and told the court about a conversation she’d had with her friend of 30 years in January 2021, months before Hanna’s death.

Hanna’s husband, Philip Polkinghorne, is on trial accused of killing her. She was found dead in the entranceway of the couple’s Remuera home on April 5, 2021. Polkinghorne, now 71, has denied killing his wife, saying she died by suicide.

The Crown’s case is that Polkinghorne fatally strangled Hanna before reporting her death to police as a suicide. It argues he was living a double life, obsessed with meth and in a covert relationship with Sydney-based escort Madison Ashton.

Polkinghorne’s defence is that Hanna was exhausted by work-related stress, had a history of mental health issues, was on medication, and tragically took her own life.

Ron Mansfield KC opened the defence case to the jury on Friday. He said police “became intoxicated by the thought of establishing murder” after they found evidence of methamphetamine use and extra-marital affairs. Both of which are just distractions, he said.

“Your issue is whether there has been a culpable homicide and that really is murder 101.

'We’ve spent much time looking at evidence that really does not focus on that issue, that fundamental issue for you… and instead looks at what might be potential motives for a crime that has not actually been established.'

Pauline Hanna’s previous suicide attempt

Pauline Hanna’s younger sister by 11 years, Tracey Hanna, was the first witness to be called for the defence.

She spoke of how Pauline had been a motherly figure to her growing up and was her inspiration.

Tracey, who has lived in London since 1992, told the court that Pauline told her that she attempted suicide sometime after their father’s death in 1990.

“There was a fight between them in the kitchen… an argument between Pauline and mum in the kitchen, which I heard. It escalated. Pauline was having a very emotional crisis. She was shouting and crying. My mother was crying, which was unusual.

“I walked into the kitchen, I kind of paused to take a view… and then I intervened and I said, ‘why are you upsetting mum… this is awful’.

“I was really angry and then she turned her anger on to me and I can remember toing and froing anger and all of a sudden she paused and said she’d tried to kill herself.”

Tracey became slightly emotional as she recalled this incident, and wanted to provide some context.

“I was a very immature unworldly 21-year-old at the time and in the 80s and 90s in New Zealand you didn’t talk about mental health, suicide… it was all a shameful secret.

“I was completely unqualified to deal with this… I didn’t know what to do and I can’t remember the rest of the evening, and I’m sorry it sounds totally terrible of me.”

Tracey said the conversation didn’t go any further and there was no mention of this incident again, something she deeply regrets.

Sometime later, Pauline told her sister she was taking pills. Tracey Hanna said she thought that meant “she was safe”.

Tracey Hanna denies lying for ‘Polkinghorne’s cause’

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Brian Dickey, Tracey was asked why she hadn’t told anyone about Pauline’s suicide attempt in the 1990s.

Dickey asked her to recall the exact date her sister told her she’d attempted suicide.

Tracey said it would have been between her father dying in May 1990, and her leaving for London in February 1992.

“I’ve tried a lot [to remember],” Tracey said.

Dickey said this was a big deal and asked how many people she told about her sister’s suicide attempt. Tracey said she told no one.

Dickey said Bruce Hanna, their brother, who was closer in age to Pauline Hanna, had never heard about the suicide attempt.

“Bruce knows nothing,” Dickey said.

“Are you suggesting I’m lying… I take offence,” Tracey replied.

“Take all the offence you like,” Dickey responded.

Dickey asked why Tracey didn’t tell anyone, including her older brother.

“Clearly a totally inadequate response, I agree,” Tracey responded.

Dickey said, as far as everyone was aware, this was the only report that Pauline Hanna had attempted suicide.

“I suppose it’s not something you talk about,” Tracey said.

“She didn’t offer much other than she tried to kill herself. I wasn’t going to sit there questioning her. She was upset, she was having an emotional meltdown. I was completely inadequate and I deeply regret that,' Tracey said again.

She said she told police after Pauline Hanna’s death about the suicide attempt in the 1990s.

Pauline Hanna appeared ‘very stressed’ in January 2021

Gillian Reid was one of the five witnesses called for the defence on Friday afternoon. She had known Hanna and Polkinghorne for about 30 years as she also had a bach at Ring’s Beach on the Coromandel.

Reid, who is now a priest, said she used to be in the corporate world and she and Hanna would speak about moving up the ladder, and related topics.

The priest told one of Polkinghorne's lawyers, Hannah Stuart, that Hanna had told her about her job, and how she'd been reluctant to take it.

She had said “it was going to be extremely difficult, challenging and not sure it was going to be resourced well,” the court heard.

Reid said she asked Hanna why she was taking it.

The priest recalled a conversation she had with Hanna in January 2021 at Ring's Beach.

'She sought me out to talk about it. That was a bit unusual really, this was initiative from her, indicated to me it was a role of significance stress for her and felt she was struggling to do it well. She felt she wasn’t achieving the standards she had set for herself.

'She was just working longer and longer hours - she did not look well in January. She had lost a lot of weight… this was a woman who was very stressed and struggling to cope what was going on around her,' Reid said.

Reid commented how Hanna would change her clothes up to three times a day.

'This to me… as another woman… indicated this was someone really struggling with their self-esteem.'

‘No evidence at all of a culpable homicide’

On Friday morning, prosecutor Brian Dickey told Justice Graham Lang the case had closed for the Crown.

Mansfield, had his turn to address the jury in a more fulsome way, telling them the issue they needed to focus on was whether there’d been a culpable homicide or not.

He said if the police had taken a step back, and looked objectively, there was “no evidence at all of a culpable homicide”

“It is very easy where the Crown can establish drug use and establish sexual relationships outside of the marriage to make you think adversely towards the individual and make you think less of him than you otherwise might have thought.”

Mansfield said there was no evidence Polkinghorne was “disabled by the consumption” of methamphetamine and unable to control his emotions.

Despite the police telling the jury they’d been open-minded in their investigation, Mansfield said that wasn’t the case.

The defence lawyer suggested police hadn’t bothered to see what Polkinghorne was telling a police officer in his voluntary statement or voluntary interview.

He said they’d “jumped to conclusions” after an officer tugged on the orange rope found around the balustrade of Polkinghorne’s home, and it became loose.

“From the tension check everything operates on the basis it is suspicious and the focus goes on to him… the only two people at home were Pauline and Dr Polkinghorne.”

There’s no evidence consistent with there being a fatal assault at the Remuera home, Mansfield said.

“No blood, no bodily fluid, no urine, no damage,” he said.

“There’s nothing in that room indicative of a fatal assault… if there was, folks, where’s the evidence of the movement of the body… to mock up a suicide.”

Mansfield said the absence of evidence at the scene was entirely consistent with what Polkinghorne told police.

Murder case against Polkinghorne ‘a phantom’, defence says

Mansfield returned to Hanna’s cause of death - neck compression.

The pathologists called for the Crown said it was possible she died by hanging, but they couldn’t rule out manual strangulation or ligature strangulation.

“I suppose, folks, that’s the perfect murder. No evidence at the scene, no evidence on the body. That would have to be the perfect murder. Can I suggest it’s not. It’s a phantom.”

He told the jury the defence will call two very senior pathologists. One from Australia and the other from the United Kingdom.

Mansfield told the jury that people can sadly still die by suicide despite outward appearances.

“Suicide is sadly unpredictable,” he said. People close to the person can often be found searching for another explanation.

“Pauline can reasonably be seen as a real risk of taking her own life.”

Mansfield reminded the jury of her workload at the time, the late night and early morning emails and also the evidence of the medication she’d been taking.

The trial before Justice Graham Lang and a jury continues.