Police did not consider laying charges against staff at the Starship children's hospital in the Tovia Laufau cancer case, a jury at the High Court in Auckland heard yesterday.
Before the court are his parents, Peni and Faafetai Laufau, who are accused of the 13-year-old's manslaughter and alternatively failing to provide the necessaries of life. Tovia died on September 7 last year after a cancerous tumour weighing 15kg on his leg spread to his lungs.
The Crown, represented by Mark Woolford and Steve Haszard, says that despite a cancer diagnosis and medical warnings that Tovia's condition would eventually kill him, the couple repeatedly refused vital treatment.
Yesterday, under cross-examination, the officer in charge of the case, Detective Sergeant Neil Hallett, told the court he considered that only the parents were criminally liable.
Defence counsel Frank Hogan has said this week that it was "unfair" that the parents were charged while hospital staff were aware what would happen if the boy was not treated.
There had been more than 20 meetings among health professionals at Starship where Tovia's case was discussed.
Mr Hogan referred the detective to a letter from the hospital in April last year which said it had considered referring the matter to Child, Youth and Family Services or seeking a court order.
Asked by Mr Hogan if he considered that a reflection of what the hospital considered its legal duty, the officer replied that he did not.
His understanding under the Crimes Act was that there was no legal duty on doctors or hospital boards.
Mr Hogan: "Did you ever give consideration to laying charges against medical personnel?"
Detective Sergeant Hallett: "Once I had checked the legislation, I realised that there was no legal duty on anyone else apart from the parents."
Earlier, the jury watched a video interview with Peni Laufau and heard a written statement from his wife. They said that Tovia refused to go back to hospital and said he would never forgive them if they made him return.
Faafetai Laufau said she thought Tovia might commit suicide because he said he would die straight away if he went back. Peni Laufau spoke of how the boy's friends would mock him because of his limp.
He said that his son never complained about being in pain and always said he was fine.
Tovia, he said, was a very special, gifted young man. They were heartbroken that they lost him prematurely.
"We didn't expect Tovia to die [the night before he died]. There was no change. He wasn't sick."
Laufau said they prayed for their son's leg to get better.
" ... but ultimately it's God's will. He gives and he takes away."
Asked why they did not take Tovia back to hospital, by force if necessary, Laufau said Tovia told him and his wife: "You are not to take me back to the hospital ever again. If you do, I will never forgive you."
Asked if he could have done things better, Laufau replied: "There was nothing that we saw that would indicate to us that we needed to do things differently. There was just nothing. Had we seen something, we probably would but we saw nothing."
At that point in the interview, the interviewing officer, Constable Zane Hooper, produced a photograph of the large tumour on the boy's leg, but Laufau's lawyer refused to let him answer whether there had been any change since the boy had last been at the hospital.
Earlier, pathologist Dr Timothy Koelmeyer told the jury he had never seen such a large tumour.
On Wednesday, Vicki Dolphin, the Starship's oncology charge nurse manager, told the jury that being told a child had a choice of living or dying was a hugely powerful incentive for families to cooperate with the medical team.
"If a family is told without treatment their child will die and they then make a decision to not return to enable that child to have treatment, that to me implies that the family are completely uncooperative for whatever reason."
The trial before Justice Judith Potter continues on Monday.
Police did not consider charging Starship staff
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