Woman accused of murdering baby son restrained in court

A Napier woman accused of murdering her six-day old baby son tried to leap from the dock during her court appearance yesterday.

The 29-year-old woman is charged with murdering the infant in Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital.

At one point the woman, whose name is suppressed, tried to leap from the dock to approach another woman in court, and had to be restrained by police and others.

The tearful woman constantly yelled out to family and friends in the gallery, and abused both her lawyer Rebecca Guthrie, and Judge Nevin Dawson.

Earlier she had to be restrained from entering the courthouse before her case was called, and when she did make it to the dock, she collapsed on the ground.

The woman, who is a beneficiary, repeatedly said the world was going to "blow up" and pleaded with her family not to leave her.

As she left the dock, the woman made a comment to family members which caused them to laugh. This prompted Judge Dawson to ask one of the group to stand up, before reprimanding him for his actions.

The woman was remanded to a psychiatric facility in Porirua for a report to be completed. The report will assess her ability to enter a plea to the charge.

She will stay in the facility for at least two weeks, but cannot be held for longer than 30 days without making another court appearance.

Detective Senior Sergeant Sam Aberahama, of Hastings CIB, said the mother is believed to have assaulted the baby on Wednesday night, and the child died on Thursday morning. Police went to the hospital about 7.30pm on Wednesday, after a call from hospital staff.

An autopsy carried out yesterday afternoon revealed the child died from severe head injuries.

The mother and baby had been in hospital since the child was born, and the mother was arrested at the hospital.

Mr Aberahama said police were now interviewing hospital staff, and friends and family of the mother.

The baby's father was not at the hospital when his son died and police had no plans to speak to him.

Hospital staff were undergoing counselling following the incident, and an internal review was to be completed at the hospital.

In a statement, Hawke's Bay District Health Board chief executive Chris Clarke described the baby's death as a tragedy.

Mr Aberahama said the death of the baby "was just a very sad case", particularly following the deaths of babies Moses and Aaron in Hastings earlier this year.

The baby's death is the third in Hastings this year.

Police are still making inquiries into the death of a baby they named Moses, found dumped behind a Christian centre on January 4.

On January 24 the body of a premature baby named Aaron by police was found by a plumber in a sewer drain.

- NZPA