Kahui mother breaks down at inquest

Macsyna King gives evidence at the inquest into the deaths of her sons, Chris and Cru Kahui. Photo / Dean Purcell

The mother of the Kahui twins broke down in tears at an inquest today as she conceded that her evidence about how she came into hospital "does not match" that of a nurse.

Macsyna King is being cross-examined by Chris Kahui's lawyer, Chris Wilkinson-Smith, at the coroner's inquest into the death of her twins in Auckland.

Baby Chris and Cru Kahui were taken to hospital by Ms King in June, 2006. They were found to have brain trauma injuries and later died.

Mr Kahui, the twins' father and Ms King's former partner, was charged with the murder of his twins, and was found not guilty after a High Court trial in May, 2008.

Ms King told the 2008 trial that she was "jumping up and down" and "freaking out" when she bought the twins into hospital with fatal injuries.

However, Claire Dillon, a former nurse at Kids First hospital, said she saw Ms King swinging the baby capsules with each arm after she arrived at the emergency department seeking help for the babies.

Ms Dillon said she watched an "elated" Ms King walk into hospital "swinging" the twins in their baby capsules.

Ms King told the inquest today that she was not describing her "day-to-day actions" and conceded she may have "muddled it up".

"I may not have had it right," Ms King said.

"In relation to Mr Smith's question, what the nurse gave as evidence and the statement I gave to police is not the same thing," Ms King told the inquest.

Earlier today, it was revealed Ms King told medical staff she needed her sons' health records for her lawyer two days after they were admitted to hospital with fatal injuries, an inquest heard today.

Mr Wilkinson-Smith put it to Ms King that the woman she named as her lawyer is not actually a lawyer and Ms King knew that.

Ms King said she needed the documents because the police were going to take her sons out of her care.

"I understood my guardian rights as a parent had been taken away and I had to prepare myself," Ms King said.

Mr Wilkinson-Smith also asked Ms King why she did not speak to two policewomen at the hospital.

"It suggests you've got something to hide," he said.

Ms King said: "I was not able to deal with it."

"Mr Smith, how I feel now and how I felt then is not much different. I still find it hard to speak about things now after the fact when two police officers I met wanted to speak to me."

Ms King also confirmed that she used methamphetamine, eight days before driving her baby twins to hospital with fatal injuries.

She said she tried the drug, also known as P, with Mr Kahui's cousin and brother.

"Mr Smith, I tried it once on one date, on one occasion," Ms King said.

'I took three to four puffs of P that I helped purchase in a glass pipe," she said.

Yesterday Ms King said Mr Kahui had something to hide because he did not want to come to hospital when she phoned him.

Ms King said she phoned her partner repeatedly from hospital after he refused to come.

"The first I remember him ... telling ... is that Chris had left the nursery door open and that Shayne had got on to our sons who were left on the couch. He just kept saying he didn't know."

Shayne, their son, was 13 months old at the time. Ms King said he could only "shuffle on his bum" and could not have climbed on to the couch.

She said she became frustrated and swore at Mr Kahui, who hung up on her on one occasion.

"When I spoke to Chris on the phone, I told him I wanted him to come to hospital, beside me and our sons. I told him to get his arse up to the hospital now," Ms King said, wiping away tears.

Coroner Garry Evans asked why she thought Mr Kahui had refused to come to hospital.

At the time she thought he was being selfish, Ms King replied. Asked if she had thought about it since, she said he was trying to hide.

Ms King said she left the house to go to her sister's on the night before the police say the twins were fatally assaulted.

She said she needed some "time out" and conceded to Mr Evans that she was tired.

She travelled with her sister, Emily, to West Auckland where they spent the evening at a friend's place before driving to Papakura to sleep at her sister's home.

Ms King said she did not go back to the family home in Mangere where Mr Kahui was caring for the twins.

Lawyers for Mr Kahui said at the trial that a cellphone call to Emily's phone was routed through a cellphone tower in Mangere and therefore put Macsyna in the area of the family home.

Ms King had told the trial that she was in Henderson, but changed that evidence at the inquest yesterday.

She said her sister's phone rang while they were driving and she had answered it. But Ms King said the pair at no time went to Mangere.

Under cross-examination by Mr Wilkinson-Smith, Ms King confirmed she had enrolled in an anger management course one month before the twins were fatally assaulted.

She wanted to work out "why I kept feeling so many emotions, why I could not communicate it clearly and explain my emotions".

However, Ms King said, she did not attend any sessions.

She also told the inquest that she had never harmed her sons.

Mr Evans asked if there was any truth to an alleged confession Ms King made to her former partner, Eru Tuari, in which she is alleged to have said: "Chris didn't do it" and "I did it".

"No I have not said that to him or anyone else," Ms King said. "And I have no idea why he would say that."

Mr Evans told the inquest at the start of the week that he did not plan to call Mr Tuari as a witness but changed his mind after legal arguments yesterday. The subject of the argument cannot be reported because of a suppression order.