Partner tells of cuddle before surrender

An alleged cop killer said to his partner "everything will be okay" and told his young son he had to be "man of the house" before he surrendered to police.

John Ward Skinner, 37, gave his family a "kiss and cuddle" goodbye before he walked out of their Mangere house and was arrested by the police armed offenders squad, said his partner, Tina Preece.

Ms Preece was giving evidence yesterday in the High Court at Auckland where Skinner and Iain Lindsay Clegg, 33, are being tried for the murder of Sergeant Don Wilkinson and the attempted murder of a colleague.

Both men have pleaded not guilty.

The officers were part of a secretive police unit trying to install a tracking device on a car outside the house of Skinner, who is alleged to be involved with the manufacture of the drug P.

Mr Wilkinson was shot in the chest and died at the scene. His colleague, who has name suppression, was shot and assaulted but survived.

After the shooting, Skinner and Clegg returned to the Hain Ave house that was the target of the police operation. At the house, Skinner got a phone call from someone who'd heard on a police scanner that a police operation had gone wrong.

They were told someone had been shot and was seriously hurt, but heard nothing about anyone being dead.

Ms Preece said the informant told them the AOS was outside and they would probably use tear gas to get in. The court heard Skinner was advised if he didn't want the children hurt he should "hand himself in".

"He just said to my son, 'You are the man of the house now' ... and then he gave us a kiss and cuddle goodbye and he went outside."

As he cuddled her and said everything would be okay she could hear police, using a loud hailer, telling the pair "to come out with their hands up".

Earlier, Ms Preece said Skinner told her he fired shots at Mr Wilkinson because he "thought he was reaching for something to ... harm him with".

She told the court Skinner and Clegg talked about what had happened. They first decided the men must have been car thieves then thought they could have planned a home invasion.

The witness said she was told the accused had confronted a man in the street and "bailed him up asking him what he was doing" .

"That's when I found out that John had been the one who fired the shots."

She told Crown Solicitor Simon Moore SC Skinner didn't say how many shots were fired and said he told her he'd shot only one person.

She told Skinner's lawyer, Marie Dyhrberg, he bought slug guns so they could protect themselves, particularly after they endured a home invasion.