KEY POINTS:
"I tell you I've never hit a kid before. I've never hit my sons. I've never hit any kid."
That was the strong denial from murder accused Chris Kahui when asked by police if he became enraged and took it out on his twin sons.
Kahui, 22, is
on trial at the High Court at Auckland where he has pleaded not guilty to murdering his three-month-old boys, Chris and Cru.
The Crown case says he attacked the twins, squeezing them so tight their ribs popped before they were slammed against a hard surface.
The defence says the babies' mother, Macsyna King, committed the crime after secretly returning to their Mangere home.
In a videotaped interview between Kahui and Detective Julie Ingram, played to jurors yesterday, he was asked how he couldn't know who hurt his babies when he was in the house with them the entire time.
Kahui's theory that the twins' one-year-old brother could be responsible for the injuries was rubbished by Ms Ingram, who told him there was no way it was a possibility.
"If he's only hit them before by accident, why on earth would you think that he's gone in and hit them hard enough to cause bruises?" she said.
Kahui: I don't think ... I don't know.
Ms Ingram: Are you concerned about them? ... Their injuries are serious. They may not survive ... What has happened to your boys Chris, how could you not know?
Kahui said he knew how serious it was and that he was "scared".
Throughout the 45-minute interview he stayed calm, speaking quietly and rubbing the back of his 1-year-old son, Shane, who sat on his knee and was noisy and disruptive. The interview is the first time jurors have heard Kahui speak about his babies, their injuries and deaths.
Ms Ingram asked him who could have hurt the twins.
"Someone's gone in and hurt your boys - who has done that?
"There's no way, absolutely no way, Shane did that to the boys. That leaves you, Stuart and Mona."
Stuart is the twins' uncle, brother of Ms King, and Mona is Kahui's sister. Both have given evidence already during the trial, now into its third week.
Ms Ingram asked him if he had got angry with his sister and taken it out on the boys.
"I tell you I've never hit a kid before. I've never hit my sons. I've never hit any kid," he replied.
Crown prosecutor Richard Marchant asked Ms Ingram what happened after the interview ended when she took Kahui and Shane home.
She told the court Shane was taken by CYF caregivers because it was not clear then who had hurt the boys.
Defence lawyer Michelle Wilkinson Smith asked her about Kahui's mood throughout the interview and was told he was co-operative and happy to answer any questions.
The trial continues.
