Granny admits killing grandson

A grandmother accused of killing her grandson accepts she caused his death, but is not guilty of murder, her lawyer says.

Kathleen Elizabeth Cooper is on trial for murdering 2-year-old Jermain Ngawhau in December 2015 by assaulting him.

Following his death, she shifted the blame to another grandchild, claiming they hit Jermain over the head with an ipad, according to the Crown.

The court heard on Monday how Cooper has since acknowledged she threw Jermain down her hallway, killing him.

However, she is arguing she is guilty of manslaughter, not murder.

In his opening address, Crown prosecutor Aaron Perkins QC told the jury at the High Court in Auckland Jermain was admitted to hospital on December 13, 2015.

The toddler had serious head injuries and died five days later.

Expert evidence would show the injuries Ngawhau sustained were similar to a high speed crash, the court heard.

Cooper earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder, but had since written to the court accepting the charge of manslaughter and accepted she had thrown Jermain down a hallway, Perkins said.

It was up to the Crown to prove Cooper had murderous intent, and knew what she was doing in assaulting Ngawhau ’’was likely to lead to his death’’, Perkins said.

Perkins told the court Jermain and his three siblings were taken into their grandmother’s care after their mother became unfit to care for them.

Child, Youth and Family had agreed Cooper should be the children’s caregivers.

‘‘It was the defendant who effectively put her hand up to look after and raise the four children,’’ Perkins said.

Jermain had significant developmental issues for his age. According to the Crown, this became a source of frustration to Cooper.

‘‘To at least one witness she described his slow development in terms of walking as lazy,’’ Perkins said.

It was clear Cooper smoked methamphetamine, and tests showed Jermain and his siblings had been exposed to the drug, Perkins said.

When emergency services arrived at Cooper’s property on December 13, 2015, Cooper told them she had been asleep and found her grandson injured when she awoke.

She told police one of her grandchildren had hit Jermain over the head with an I-pad.

Perkins told the jury tapped calls from Cooper’s phone following the death would show she said the family member was a ‘nasty little thing’ and ‘I know that f ..... little b... did it’.

The court would hear from the grandchild, who told police Cooper picked up Jermain and ‘‘threw him’’ for being ‘‘naughty’’ for not walking.

Perkins said there would be conflicting evidence about how Cooper cared for her grandchildren, who were all under the age of 5.

Staff from the children’s childcare would give evidence about how there was ’’quite regular and sometimes quite significant bruising on the children’’, Perkins said.

Defence counsel Paul Dacre QC told the jury his client now accepted responsibility for her grandson’s death.

The case would be focused around whether Cooper had murderous intent or not, Dacre said.

One of Cooper’s daughters, Bianca Kupa, told the court her mother would keep Jermain on the potty for up to 40 minutes to teach him a lesson.

Kupa gave evidence on Monday afternoon, saying her mother was sometimes ‘‘hard’’ on her grandchildren.

The jury trial is set down for three weeks in front of Justice Sarah Katz.