Chris Kahui

Chris Kahui

The Prime Minister should not be publicly commenting on the investigation into the Kahui twins' deaths, the lawyer for their mother Macsyna King has said.

Yesterday, Helen Clark took the unusual step of breaking with political convention by speaking out about the outcome of a court case, saying someone needed to be "brought to account" for the deaths of Chris and Cru Kahui.

She repeated her view that police would look at the case again "in the cool light of day" and "see whether there's new angles to explore".

Macsyna King's lawyer, Marie Dyhrberg, today said Helen Clark should know better than to comment on such a high profile criminal case.

Ms Dyhrberg said the justice system would be corrupt if politicians were allowed to dictate how it runs.

She said police spent 18 weeks carrying out a thorough investigation into the twins' deaths and Helen Clark should have more faith in the justice system.

Police are refusing to reopen their investigation into the Kahui twins' deaths.

The file will be "debriefed" by a senior police officer from outside the Counties Manukau district, but the area's top officer has said there are no plans to reinvestigate unless new information comes to light.

The Prime Minister yesterday said Police Commissioner Howard Broad had told her it was standard practice to do a "debrief" on such cases.

Asked if it was appropriate for her to be discussing an operational matter with the Police Commissioner, Helen Clark said it was "perfectly appropriate to know what standard practice is, and that's what he advised me of".

She said she didn't think anyone of "good conscience" could sit on information which hid the offender.

"Someone badly attacked those little babies which led directly to their deaths, and that person should come forward and those who know who it was should come forward."

However, Helen Clark stopped short of criticising the police, saying it was a difficult investigation because of the "wall of silence" the Kahui twins' whanau had put up.

The Counties Manukau district commander, Superintendent Steve Shortland, said that while the case had not been shelved, there were no plans for it to be reopened.

"Our decision, reinforced by advice from the Crown Solicitor, is that there is no evidence that would warrant re-opening the investigation or charging anyone else in relation to the death of the twins, at this point."