An Auckland grandmother admits throwing her 2-year-old grandson leading to his death but her lawyer says she denies his murder.
The trial is expected to last for two weeks. Photo: justice.govt.nz
Jermain Ngawhau died on 18 December 2015 from severe head injuries received five days earlier at his grandmother's house in Clendon.
Kathleen Elizabeth Cooper is now on trial at the High Court in Auckland for his murder.
In the Crown's opening address, Aaron Perkins QC told the jury Ms Cooper had written to the court and admitted throwing the boy, resulting in his death.
However she initially pinned the blame on another grandchild.
Jermain was one of four children under five who had come into Ms Cooper's care in 2014.
He said jurors would hear of her disciplining the children by "smacking them in various different ways".
"A number of witnesses, particularly staff at daycare centres, noted quite regular and often quite significant bruising on the children."
He said while affection was seen on the outside, it "wasn't necessarily a reflection of what was going on behind closed doors at home."
He said the use of physical discipline "means that this defendant was well versed in the use of force on these children and the effects..."
Mr Perkins also told the jury that Jermain had "significant developmental delay issues" caused by a chromosomal deficiency.
When a paediatrician saw him in April 2015 he weighed just 10kg despite being 2-years-old and his motor skills such as walking were at a one-year-old's level.
He said the size of the deceased was important.
"The defendant cannot be surprised by the outcome of her assault, namely the death of this boy."
He said the Crown suggested Ms Cooper had trouble coming to terms with Jermain's difficulties, and it was a source of frustration.
He said Jermain also had a delay around toileting and was still wearing nappies at the time of his death.
"Evidence suggests she would get very angry if there were any toileting accidents."
Despite having now admitted throwing the boy, Mr Perkins said initially she said she was asleep when it happened and blamed one of her pre-school-aged grandchildren.
She said one may have hit him over the head with a tablet device like an iPad.
He said even by March 2016 she was still blaming the grandchild with her saying "I know that f***ing little bitch did it" during a recorded phone call.
However Mr Perkins said an interview with the child would reveal her telling the police "she pick him up and throw him in the hallway" because "he being naughty, he was not walking".
Mr Perkins told the court the stories could impact on her credibility.
Trial to focus on 'murderous intent'
Ms Cooper's lawyer Paul Dacre QC told the Jury it was important her position was made clear.
"The death of a young child is obviously a tragedy. It's a tragedy that a young boy hasn't fulfilled his potential. He's been taken away from his family and taken away from his community.
He said the trial was starting with the issue of manslaughter already sorted.
"The person responsible for his death is Kathleen Cooper - she's the person who is responsible for the death of her grandson Jermain. There's no getting around that."
He said while that wasn't what she said at first "it sometimes takes all of us some time to come to terms with our actions.
"There are two sides to this story"
He said the trial would focus on the issue of murderous intent
"What the crown's got to prove is she knew that it was likely to cause death."
Family give evidence
Ms Cooper's daughter Bianca Kupa was the first to give evidence.
She told the court Ms Cooper would smack the children from time to time.
"She was doing fine. She was coping with four children under five and she was doing her best at her age at the time.
"Maybe a smack, that sort of discipline, when they're naughty."
She said Ms Cooper would keep Jermain on the potty for 40 minutes to try and train him to use it.
"I would tell her not to keep them on there too long. That he needs to come off, give him time to adjust.
She said she had seen bruises on his stomach once but when she asked about it she was told "it was possibly from daycare".
Ms Cooper's nephew, Neville McCausland, had stayed at her place for four or five days in the week leading up to Jermain's death.
He said he smoked meth with his aunt most nights and hadn't slept for four days and she didn't either.
"We don't sleep, don't eat, you just keep smoking to stay awake.
Under cross examination Mr Dacre questioned whether he would have been able to clearly remember the time as he was high on meth and drinking.
Mr Dacre suggested Kathleen Cooper didn't smoke with him at all.
However Mr McCausland rejected that, but acknowledged his memory was clearer now he was off the drug.
"Do you think the fact that you thought she was responsible and you had been smoking large amounts of methamphetamine impacts your memory of her smoking methamphetamine with you?," Mr Dacre asked.
He said it would not.
The trial is set down for two weeks and will hear from around 50 witnesses.
