August 16, 2024 • 19 mins
Questions around a certain dinner at a Havelock North restaurant, more on what prescription drugs Pauline Hanna was taking – and unravelling the issues at Auckland Eye.
Friends and colleagues have weighed in at the end of the third week of Philip Polkinghorne’s trial.
You can listen to episodes of Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial through The Front Page podcast feed, or find it on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.
This series is presented and produced by, Chelsea Daniels, with producer Ethan Sills and sound engineer Paddy Fox. Additional reporting by Craig Kapitan and George Block.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Kiyota.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and from the team behind the front
page the New Zealand Herald's daily news podcast, This Is
Accused the Polkinghorn Trial. Over the next six weeks, in
conjunction with our usual daily episodes, we'll be bringing you
regular coverage as one of the most high profile trials
of the year makes its way through the High Court
(00:29):
at Auckland. A warning, this podcast contains disturbing content. Questions
swirl around a certain dinner at a Havelock North restaurant,
more on what prescription drugs Pauline Hannah was taking and
the unraveling of the issues at Auckland. Eye friends and
(00:52):
colleagues have weighed in at the end of the third
week of Philip Pulkinghorn's trial. He's accused of murdering his
wife in a Pril twenty twenty one. He maintains she
took her own life. Pheasant's husband, John reared and took
to the stand on day thirteen, but continued his evidence
(01:14):
on day fourteen. He spoke about the dinner in twenty
twenty when Pauline confided in them that Philip had put
his hands around her neck. She started talking about the
difficulties in her relationship, the arguments, and how she had
to be very very careful around her husband otherwise he
would blow out.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
You did it just so we capture that you were
gesturing with yours one hand above the other right and
above your left, and you've got your fingers open around
your throat.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
I captured that.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Right, Yes, So she gestured that she did, and then
she said nothing for maybe five seconds, and we just
sort of looked at him and thought, what are you doing?
What are you saying? And then she said, he tried
to strangle me.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
So, as best you can recall, how accurate are those
words he tried to strangle me?
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Oh, very acurate?
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And who was he?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Well, because all of the conversation that we'd had to
date was about Philip and Pauline and their.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Marriage, So how certain are you about the words? He
tried to strangle me? And when she'd done that, she'd
done that gesture and she'd said that.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
What happened next?
Speaker 4 (02:33):
I just said to her, pack up your bags, you
come home with us.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Why were you saying that?
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Well, multitude was that he'd done it once, he'll do
it again.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Did you say that?
Speaker 4 (02:46):
That's why? I said to you.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yes, he remembers her telling them she didn't have any money,
she'd have nowhere to live. John continued to strongly encourage
her to come home, and what.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Was her reaction if you need to suggestion that she
should come home?
Speaker 4 (03:07):
I felt that she was very nervous about the idea
of leaving the flood.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Why did you Why do you say you felt that?
What did she say or do that that made you
feel that?
Speaker 5 (03:20):
Well?
Speaker 4 (03:20):
When she started telling us about the fact that he'd
shown great remorse, and I'm going, yeah, he might have,
but if he's do it to you once, he will
do it to you again. No, see this time and
time again?
Speaker 6 (03:36):
Was was?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
What was Pheasant doing when you're having this conversation about it?
If it's seven once, it will happen again.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
What was Pheasant's reaction to this? Or do you not
now recall.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
I don't specifically recall her reaction, but it would have
been the same as mine. What were you focusing on
her safety? Like get her out of where she was
and get her home?
Speaker 5 (03:58):
Who's safety or Leans?
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
He also remembered staying at the couple's Remuerra home and
Philip coming home and the mood dropping.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Philip came in that night. You thought Pauline's demeanor.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Change, oh straight away?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Did you?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
How had she been prior to that, to Philip coming
home very bubly and when he came home?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
What was the change?
Speaker 4 (04:26):
It was almost like she was careful about the words
that she said, profere that she made something say something wrong.
It so appeared to me.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Did you speak to her about that on that occasion?
Speaker 4 (04:39):
No? Not dead.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
When he continued his evidence on day fourteen, John remembered
the last conversation he had with Pauline at her mother's
funeral in February twenty twenty one.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
She was talking about the grandkids. So Philip's eldis child
and Bruce's daughter had a child, both of them which
she called you know she was she was their grandmother,
and she was so excited about that whole process and
being part of their lives growing up. And yeah, I
(05:11):
mean she had a lot to look for.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
You speak often about family, Oh.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Yes, yeah, and the grandchildren like they were front and
center all the time.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
He spoke about how they found out Pauline died. They
returned home and there was a voicemail message from Bruce
and Rose Hannah, which was unusual. Pheasant went up to
the bedroom and rang the Hannah's back. Then he heard
his wife cry out. He then recalled Philip, telling them.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Phone no speaker or the sign was on speaker, and
just explain for us what Philip sid when he called
Pheasant in those days after Pauline's death.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
So when we answered the phone, he was already and
he said, my darling wife, she's gone. I couldn't tell
you what other words he said, but that's what stuck
with me. And he was crying and yeah, it's not
(06:15):
an unusual emotion to have if your wife has died,
So it's okay. And then he carries on talking for
a few minutes about the loss. Yes, and it's all
at the same level of emotion. And then he talks
about the police. And the second that he starts talking
about the police, the crime has stopped. Like there is
(06:39):
no emotion in his voice whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
What when you say he was talking about the police,
can you recall what sort of things he was conveying
about the police.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Well, he said, the police are going to charge me
for murder. I didn't kill my wife. Well those are
the words I do know. Definitely, happened.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Which one?
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Sorry, the police are going to charge me with murder.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
On cross examination, Ron Mansfield asked whether John knew anyone
who'd committed suicide he has.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Do they have a lot to live for? There were
a lot of people that loved him.
Speaker 7 (07:22):
Yes, so we all have a lot to live for,
don't we, Sue.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
I don't think all people have a lot to live for,
but both think Paulne did have a lot to live for.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Ys Mansfield suggested John wanted to put the boot in
with his comments about Hannah having to be careful around Polkinghorn.
They spoke about the dinner in twenty twenty.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Do you think that.
Speaker 7 (07:47):
Both you and Fearsant just talk this claim by Pauline
to be the alcohol.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Talking on that night? Definitely No.
Speaker 7 (08:00):
Whilst she had been talking about twenty nineteen being a
terrible year for her and Philip, you didn't put too
much weight on what she had claimed, given that she
had been drinking.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
I disagree.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
If you took Pauline seriously, then you would have had
further discussions with her, and you didn't, Mansfield claimed. John
said they did. It's just not reflected in the texts.
Crown Prosecutor a Lesia McClintock comes back to clarify a
few things.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
It's been suggested to both the context you've given to
the conversation.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
At Marlow and your evidence yesterday was both. Mister Mansfield said,
putting the boot in and gilding the lily. I think
was the other one. You remember him suggesting, this.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Is anything that you've told the court about what happened
at the Marlow restaurant, Things that you've said in order
to put the boot.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
No, that you've said in order to gild the lily.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
No took coverage of other news events in New Zealand,
including the state of our economy post O cr Katz.
Listen to the front page The Herald's daily news podcast
wherever you get your podcasts. Pauline Hannah's doctor took to
(09:31):
the stand. They have named suppressions, so we can't name them,
their practice or any other identifying details. They were heard
gp for many years. They brought her medical records to
court and we've heard a bit about it from day
nine when Ron Mansfield revealed a previous suicide attempt and
her long history of taking antidepressants. You'll remember he mentioned
(09:54):
Hannah being given medication for alcohol use disorder. In two
thousand and four and thirteen. The witness said Hannah had
seen a specialist she wanted to control her drinking. Her
records say she was drinking a bottle of wine a
night in twenty thirteen. In twenty nineteen, Hannah said her
intake was two or more glasses of wine a night.
(10:15):
She would have been at the recommended limit of fourteen
units a week. She was prescribed weight loss medication in
twenty ten, something she took most of the time from
that point. While Zoppo clone, a sleeping pill, was found
in her blood, she was never prescribed it. Earlier in
the trial, we heard the Zoppa clone in her system
when she died was at a high level, suggesting a tolerance.
(10:39):
The witness recalled Hannah having suicidal thoughts in December twenty nineteen.
She'd never discussed them before or discussed any previous suicide attempts.
Cross examinations saw the GP asked more about psychiatrist visits.
In twenty thirteen. A note in her records said the
psychiatrist noted Na wanted to detox from alcohol and take
(11:03):
ant abuse, a medication used in the treatment of alcohol
use disorders. In twenty seventeen, Hannah was again prescribed now
treksone by another doctor after raising concerns about her drinking.
It's used to manage cravings. Defense lawyer Hannah Stewart questioned
the doctor about why Pauline was taking the weight loss
(11:25):
drug duramine, given it's meant to be short term. No,
but it's not uncommon, they said, so, just because others
do it, that makes it okay, asked Stuart. They're asked
about why Hannah was kept on the medication for eleven
years without being weighed. The witness reiterates Hannah didn't have
any side effects and appeared to be maintaining her weight.
(11:47):
Stewart is intending to call evidence suggesting a link between
the use of duramine and other drugs with an elevated
suicide risk. In December twenty nineteen, Hannah had reported her
mother was an hospital, her husband had left her. She
was crying, and the GP referred her to the crisis team.
She's expressed suicidal thoughts. The GP called her the following morning,
(12:11):
and Hannah said she was feeling better. When the trial
resumed on day fifteen, Susan Ormond was called to the stand.
She's an ophthalmologist at Auckland Eye and the clinical director.
She met Philip Polkinghorn in two thousand and one when
they both worked at Auckland DHB. They had a good
(12:32):
relationship and friendship and socialized outside of work. She'd met
Pauline many times. Crown Prosecutor Pitt McNabb asked about whether
there'd been concerns about Polkinghorn at work in the one
to two year period before Hannah's death as a clinical director.
Ormond said there'd been people who expressed concerns about certain
(12:53):
aspects of patient care and him being irritable with staff
in the theater.
Speaker 6 (12:58):
There were some concerns that he was generally more irritable,
just generally, not just in theater. I mean, I certainly
found him more irritable than usual, but you know, there
were sort of we're having problems at Auckland.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
I Philip gone to her and her husband's home for
lunch the day before Pauline's funeral. There he made a
couple of revelations. He was worried about them coming out.
Speaker 6 (13:27):
So he said, well, what were those things? And the
first thing he actually mentioned was regarding his and Pauline's
sex life. And then when we asked what the other
thing was he was worried about, he said drugs, to
which I said what sort of drugs, to which he replied, meth.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Did he offer any further explanation of what exactly he
was worried about in terms.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
Of myth coming out, well, the conversation at that point
we were quite shocked. We weren't expecting, you know, we
weren't expecting to hear him say meth. And the conversation really.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
Was around, you know, sort of what do you mean meth?
Speaker 6 (14:14):
You taking meth kind of thing, and he he wasn't
specific about whether it was he or appauling, but he
talked about it as if it was both of them,
you know, we use meth or whatever. He asked if
we'd ever tried meth, to which we said no, and
he said, well you should.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Almond then told the company lawyer and phone the Medical
Protection Society.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
It was a very difficult position.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
On the one hand, you know, this was a close
friend and colleague who was with us for support and
was telling us things in confidence, and obviously we want
to keep those things confidential.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
But at the same time, as clinical director.
Speaker 6 (14:56):
You know, one of my obligations is very much to
make sure that all the patients we see are safe
and receive the highest quality treatment. And to find out
that one of the doctors had been using math was
a considerable concern.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
On cross examination, Ron Mansfield, as he did with another witness,
had Ormond show how Polkinghorn worked long hours in both
the public and private systems and at Auckland Medical School,
where he helped with training and research. Ormond told police
Hannah and Polkinghorn were a perfectly normal couple and she
never saw him put down, control, manipulate or abuse his wife.
(15:35):
Onto his delayed retirement due to two doctors leaving unexpectedly
that set up another practice and the cost of solicitors
was larger than the amount due to be paid out,
it caused considerable disruption to Auckland. Die could this have
contributed to him being agitated?
Speaker 7 (15:53):
And I think you saw that frustration yourself by way
of him being slightly more agitated, as you put it,
than he might ordinarily be in certain circumstances.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
Now I said, irritable, but yes, irritable, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Ormond would last sea Hannah alive at a crowded house
concert at Spark Arena on March twenty first, twenty twenty one.
Mark Connolly is the chair of the board at Auckland Eye,
an independent director who joined in twenty nineteen and became
chair in twenty twenty. He's not a clinician or shareholder.
(16:34):
Like other witnesses, he chose not to be recorded. While
much of the tensions at auckland I over the sudden
departure of two shareholders was before his time, he said
the circumstances were controversial, sudden, and unexpected. On Polkinghorn's retirement issues,
he was initially planning on leaving sometime in twenty twenty.
(16:55):
A doctor was arriving from overseas and Polkinghorn was keen
to have him take over some of his patients, Connolly remembers,
so they settled on June thirty, twenty twenty two, as
a final date. Polkinghorn was concerned about his payout, which
we heard earlier in the trial was lower than what
was offered to those two doctors who abruptly left. Connolly
(17:17):
said he wasn't happy about that and wanted, at a minimum,
the same amount the others got. They got six hundred
and fifty thousand dollars, while he was offered about three
hundred and sixty thousand. We heard the other day it'd
eventually be four hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Connolly agrees
Polkinghorn wanted more, and he confirmed. He replied saying he
(17:37):
couldn't because otherwise other specialists set to retire would be
knocking on my door asking for the same package. She said.
The first week Connolly was made chair in twenty twenty,
the chief executive rang him and said, we've discovered a
meth pipe in the practice that pulled CCTV for the
(17:58):
previous weekend. Four or five people had come into the practice, Polkinghorn,
a cleaner, the CEO and CFO. The pipe was found
in a preparation room, a room used by ophthalmologists. Fast
forward to a meeting in May twenty twenty one after
Hannah's death, and his colleague Susan Ormond would reveal Polkinghorn
(18:21):
had told her he was a meth user. Ron Mansfield
asked Connolly about the pipe discovery. It happened on a
Monday morning. There was a young patient in the prep
room on the Thursday or Friday before Connolly confirmed the
meth pipe was handed over to police. He isn't sure
if it was fingerprinted or DNA tested. The trial continues
(18:42):
next week. You can listen to episodes of Accused the
Polkinghorn Trial through the Front Page podcast feed or find
it on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. This
series is presented and produced by me Chelsea Annuals, with
producer Ethan Sills and sound engineer Paddy Fox. Additional reporting
(19:05):
from the Heralds Craig Captan and George Block and for
more coverage of the Polkinghorn Trial head to enzedhrold dot
co dot nz
Kiyota.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and from the team behind the front
page the New Zealand Herald's daily news podcast, This Is
Accused the Polkinghorn Trial. Over the next six weeks, in
conjunction with our usual daily episodes, we'll be bringing you
regular coverage as one of the most high profile trials
of the year makes its way through the High Court
(00:29):
at Auckland. A warning, this podcast contains disturbing content. Questions
swirl around a certain dinner at a Havelock North restaurant,
more on what prescription drugs Pauline Hannah was taking and
the unraveling of the issues at Auckland. Eye friends and
(00:52):
colleagues have weighed in at the end of the third
week of Philip Pulkinghorn's trial. He's accused of murdering his
wife in a Pril twenty twenty one. He maintains she
took her own life. Pheasant's husband, John reared and took
to the stand on day thirteen, but continued his evidence
(01:14):
on day fourteen. He spoke about the dinner in twenty
twenty when Pauline confided in them that Philip had put
his hands around her neck. She started talking about the
difficulties in her relationship, the arguments, and how she had
to be very very careful around her husband otherwise he
would blow out.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
You did it just so we capture that you were
gesturing with yours one hand above the other right and
above your left, and you've got your fingers open around
your throat.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
I captured that.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Right, Yes, So she gestured that she did, and then
she said nothing for maybe five seconds, and we just
sort of looked at him and thought, what are you doing?
What are you saying? And then she said, he tried
to strangle me.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
So, as best you can recall, how accurate are those
words he tried to strangle me?
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Oh, very acurate?
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And who was he?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Well, because all of the conversation that we'd had to
date was about Philip and Pauline and their.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Marriage, So how certain are you about the words? He
tried to strangle me? And when she'd done that, she'd
done that gesture and she'd said that.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
What happened next?
Speaker 4 (02:33):
I just said to her, pack up your bags, you
come home with us.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Why were you saying that?
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Well, multitude was that he'd done it once, he'll do
it again.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Did you say that?
Speaker 4 (02:46):
That's why? I said to you.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yes, he remembers her telling them she didn't have any money,
she'd have nowhere to live. John continued to strongly encourage
her to come home, and what.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Was her reaction if you need to suggestion that she
should come home?
Speaker 4 (03:07):
I felt that she was very nervous about the idea
of leaving the flood.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Why did you Why do you say you felt that?
What did she say or do that that made you
feel that?
Speaker 5 (03:20):
Well?
Speaker 4 (03:20):
When she started telling us about the fact that he'd
shown great remorse, and I'm going, yeah, he might have,
but if he's do it to you once, he will
do it to you again. No, see this time and
time again?
Speaker 6 (03:36):
Was was?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
What was Pheasant doing when you're having this conversation about it?
If it's seven once, it will happen again.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
What was Pheasant's reaction to this? Or do you not
now recall.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
I don't specifically recall her reaction, but it would have
been the same as mine. What were you focusing on
her safety? Like get her out of where she was
and get her home?
Speaker 5 (03:58):
Who's safety or Leans?
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
He also remembered staying at the couple's Remuerra home and
Philip coming home and the mood dropping.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Philip came in that night. You thought Pauline's demeanor.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Change, oh straight away?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Did you?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
How had she been prior to that, to Philip coming
home very bubly and when he came home?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
What was the change?
Speaker 4 (04:26):
It was almost like she was careful about the words
that she said, profere that she made something say something wrong.
It so appeared to me.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Did you speak to her about that on that occasion?
Speaker 4 (04:39):
No? Not dead.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
When he continued his evidence on day fourteen, John remembered
the last conversation he had with Pauline at her mother's
funeral in February twenty twenty one.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
She was talking about the grandkids. So Philip's eldis child
and Bruce's daughter had a child, both of them which
she called you know she was she was their grandmother,
and she was so excited about that whole process and
being part of their lives growing up. And yeah, I
(05:11):
mean she had a lot to look for.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
You speak often about family, Oh.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Yes, yeah, and the grandchildren like they were front and
center all the time.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
He spoke about how they found out Pauline died. They
returned home and there was a voicemail message from Bruce
and Rose Hannah, which was unusual. Pheasant went up to
the bedroom and rang the Hannah's back. Then he heard
his wife cry out. He then recalled Philip, telling them.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Phone no speaker or the sign was on speaker, and
just explain for us what Philip sid when he called
Pheasant in those days after Pauline's death.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
So when we answered the phone, he was already and
he said, my darling wife, she's gone. I couldn't tell
you what other words he said, but that's what stuck
with me. And he was crying and yeah, it's not
(06:15):
an unusual emotion to have if your wife has died,
So it's okay. And then he carries on talking for
a few minutes about the loss. Yes, and it's all
at the same level of emotion. And then he talks
about the police. And the second that he starts talking
about the police, the crime has stopped. Like there is
(06:39):
no emotion in his voice whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
What when you say he was talking about the police,
can you recall what sort of things he was conveying
about the police.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Well, he said, the police are going to charge me
for murder. I didn't kill my wife. Well those are
the words I do know. Definitely, happened.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Which one?
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Sorry, the police are going to charge me with murder.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
On cross examination, Ron Mansfield asked whether John knew anyone
who'd committed suicide he has.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Do they have a lot to live for? There were
a lot of people that loved him.
Speaker 7 (07:22):
Yes, so we all have a lot to live for,
don't we, Sue.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
I don't think all people have a lot to live for,
but both think Paulne did have a lot to live for.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Ys Mansfield suggested John wanted to put the boot in
with his comments about Hannah having to be careful around Polkinghorn.
They spoke about the dinner in twenty twenty.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Do you think that.
Speaker 7 (07:47):
Both you and Fearsant just talk this claim by Pauline
to be the alcohol.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Talking on that night? Definitely No.
Speaker 7 (08:00):
Whilst she had been talking about twenty nineteen being a
terrible year for her and Philip, you didn't put too
much weight on what she had claimed, given that she
had been drinking.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
I disagree.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
If you took Pauline seriously, then you would have had
further discussions with her, and you didn't, Mansfield claimed. John
said they did. It's just not reflected in the texts.
Crown Prosecutor a Lesia McClintock comes back to clarify a
few things.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
It's been suggested to both the context you've given to
the conversation.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
At Marlow and your evidence yesterday was both. Mister Mansfield said,
putting the boot in and gilding the lily. I think
was the other one. You remember him suggesting, this.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Is anything that you've told the court about what happened
at the Marlow restaurant, Things that you've said in order
to put the boot.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
No, that you've said in order to gild the lily.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
No took coverage of other news events in New Zealand,
including the state of our economy post O cr Katz.
Listen to the front page The Herald's daily news podcast
wherever you get your podcasts. Pauline Hannah's doctor took to
(09:31):
the stand. They have named suppressions, so we can't name them,
their practice or any other identifying details. They were heard
gp for many years. They brought her medical records to
court and we've heard a bit about it from day
nine when Ron Mansfield revealed a previous suicide attempt and
her long history of taking antidepressants. You'll remember he mentioned
(09:54):
Hannah being given medication for alcohol use disorder. In two
thousand and four and thirteen. The witness said Hannah had
seen a specialist she wanted to control her drinking. Her
records say she was drinking a bottle of wine a
night in twenty thirteen. In twenty nineteen, Hannah said her
intake was two or more glasses of wine a night.
(10:15):
She would have been at the recommended limit of fourteen
units a week. She was prescribed weight loss medication in
twenty ten, something she took most of the time from
that point. While Zoppo clone, a sleeping pill, was found
in her blood, she was never prescribed it. Earlier in
the trial, we heard the Zoppa clone in her system
when she died was at a high level, suggesting a tolerance.
(10:39):
The witness recalled Hannah having suicidal thoughts in December twenty nineteen.
She'd never discussed them before or discussed any previous suicide attempts.
Cross examinations saw the GP asked more about psychiatrist visits.
In twenty thirteen. A note in her records said the
psychiatrist noted Na wanted to detox from alcohol and take
(11:03):
ant abuse, a medication used in the treatment of alcohol
use disorders. In twenty seventeen, Hannah was again prescribed now
treksone by another doctor after raising concerns about her drinking.
It's used to manage cravings. Defense lawyer Hannah Stewart questioned
the doctor about why Pauline was taking the weight loss
(11:25):
drug duramine, given it's meant to be short term. No,
but it's not uncommon, they said, so, just because others
do it, that makes it okay, asked Stuart. They're asked
about why Hannah was kept on the medication for eleven
years without being weighed. The witness reiterates Hannah didn't have
any side effects and appeared to be maintaining her weight.
(11:47):
Stewart is intending to call evidence suggesting a link between
the use of duramine and other drugs with an elevated
suicide risk. In December twenty nineteen, Hannah had reported her
mother was an hospital, her husband had left her. She
was crying, and the GP referred her to the crisis team.
She's expressed suicidal thoughts. The GP called her the following morning,
(12:11):
and Hannah said she was feeling better. When the trial
resumed on day fifteen, Susan Ormond was called to the stand.
She's an ophthalmologist at Auckland Eye and the clinical director.
She met Philip Polkinghorn in two thousand and one when
they both worked at Auckland DHB. They had a good
(12:32):
relationship and friendship and socialized outside of work. She'd met
Pauline many times. Crown Prosecutor Pitt McNabb asked about whether
there'd been concerns about Polkinghorn at work in the one
to two year period before Hannah's death as a clinical director.
Ormond said there'd been people who expressed concerns about certain
(12:53):
aspects of patient care and him being irritable with staff
in the theater.
Speaker 6 (12:58):
There were some concerns that he was generally more irritable,
just generally, not just in theater. I mean, I certainly
found him more irritable than usual, but you know, there
were sort of we're having problems at Auckland.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
I Philip gone to her and her husband's home for
lunch the day before Pauline's funeral. There he made a
couple of revelations. He was worried about them coming out.
Speaker 6 (13:27):
So he said, well, what were those things? And the
first thing he actually mentioned was regarding his and Pauline's
sex life. And then when we asked what the other
thing was he was worried about, he said drugs, to
which I said what sort of drugs, to which he replied, meth.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Did he offer any further explanation of what exactly he
was worried about in terms.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
Of myth coming out, well, the conversation at that point
we were quite shocked. We weren't expecting, you know, we
weren't expecting to hear him say meth. And the conversation really.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
Was around, you know, sort of what do you mean meth?
Speaker 6 (14:14):
You taking meth kind of thing, and he he wasn't
specific about whether it was he or appauling, but he
talked about it as if it was both of them,
you know, we use meth or whatever. He asked if
we'd ever tried meth, to which we said no, and
he said, well you should.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Almond then told the company lawyer and phone the Medical
Protection Society.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
It was a very difficult position.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
On the one hand, you know, this was a close
friend and colleague who was with us for support and
was telling us things in confidence, and obviously we want
to keep those things confidential.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
But at the same time, as clinical director.
Speaker 6 (14:56):
You know, one of my obligations is very much to
make sure that all the patients we see are safe
and receive the highest quality treatment. And to find out
that one of the doctors had been using math was
a considerable concern.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
On cross examination, Ron Mansfield, as he did with another witness,
had Ormond show how Polkinghorn worked long hours in both
the public and private systems and at Auckland Medical School,
where he helped with training and research. Ormond told police
Hannah and Polkinghorn were a perfectly normal couple and she
never saw him put down, control, manipulate or abuse his wife.
(15:35):
Onto his delayed retirement due to two doctors leaving unexpectedly
that set up another practice and the cost of solicitors
was larger than the amount due to be paid out,
it caused considerable disruption to Auckland. Die could this have
contributed to him being agitated?
Speaker 7 (15:53):
And I think you saw that frustration yourself by way
of him being slightly more agitated, as you put it,
than he might ordinarily be in certain circumstances.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
Now I said, irritable, but yes, irritable, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Ormond would last sea Hannah alive at a crowded house
concert at Spark Arena on March twenty first, twenty twenty one.
Mark Connolly is the chair of the board at Auckland Eye,
an independent director who joined in twenty nineteen and became
chair in twenty twenty. He's not a clinician or shareholder.
(16:34):
Like other witnesses, he chose not to be recorded. While
much of the tensions at auckland I over the sudden
departure of two shareholders was before his time, he said
the circumstances were controversial, sudden, and unexpected. On Polkinghorn's retirement issues,
he was initially planning on leaving sometime in twenty twenty.
(16:55):
A doctor was arriving from overseas and Polkinghorn was keen
to have him take over some of his patients, Connolly remembers,
so they settled on June thirty, twenty twenty two, as
a final date. Polkinghorn was concerned about his payout, which
we heard earlier in the trial was lower than what
was offered to those two doctors who abruptly left. Connolly
(17:17):
said he wasn't happy about that and wanted, at a minimum,
the same amount the others got. They got six hundred
and fifty thousand dollars, while he was offered about three
hundred and sixty thousand. We heard the other day it'd
eventually be four hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Connolly agrees
Polkinghorn wanted more, and he confirmed. He replied saying he
(17:37):
couldn't because otherwise other specialists set to retire would be
knocking on my door asking for the same package. She said.
The first week Connolly was made chair in twenty twenty,
the chief executive rang him and said, we've discovered a
meth pipe in the practice that pulled CCTV for the
(17:58):
previous weekend. Four or five people had come into the practice, Polkinghorn,
a cleaner, the CEO and CFO. The pipe was found
in a preparation room, a room used by ophthalmologists. Fast
forward to a meeting in May twenty twenty one after
Hannah's death, and his colleague Susan Ormond would reveal Polkinghorn
(18:21):
had told her he was a meth user. Ron Mansfield
asked Connolly about the pipe discovery. It happened on a
Monday morning. There was a young patient in the prep
room on the Thursday or Friday before Connolly confirmed the
meth pipe was handed over to police. He isn't sure
if it was fingerprinted or DNA tested. The trial continues
(18:42):
next week. You can listen to episodes of Accused the
Polkinghorn Trial through the Front Page podcast feed or find
it on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. This
series is presented and produced by me Chelsea Annuals, with
producer Ethan Sills and sound engineer Paddy Fox. Additional reporting
(19:05):
from the Heralds Craig Captan and George Block and for
more coverage of the Polkinghorn Trial head to enzedhrold dot
co dot nz
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