Child killer now says he didn’t do it
After two trials and three years in prison, Trent Hapuku finally admitted he had killed 5-monthold Mikara Reti.
Now three years after that admission, he’s changed his mind and denies killing the boy.
Hapuku, 29, is serving a nineyear sentence for the manslaughter of Mikara in Flaxmere in 2011.
Mikara died from a single blow. It was inflicted on him because Hapuku believed the infant was distracting him from playing a PlayStation game.
He was found guilty after two trials, the first ending with a hung jury.
It wasn’t until a parole hearing in September 2014 that Hapuku finally came clean, admitting he had inflicted the fatal blow.
But at his latest hearing, held at Tongariro Prison last week, it was made clear to the Parole Board that he was now denying the offence.
The board heard that Hapuku had left a rehabilitation programme due to an unwillingness to fully
A psychologist’s report said he was ‘‘inconsistent in taking responsibility for the offending and had not completed a safety plan’’, so he was referred for individual psychological treatment.
He had 22 treatment sessions, during which time he continued to deny his offending.
The board said Hapuku was not following through on a commitment to have structured days. He had failed to attend sessions that would help him get his learner driver’s licence because disclose the manslaughter. he was more interested in sleeping.
He appeared keen to get into a self-care unit but didn’t understand that he would need to display some motivation before doing so.
‘‘Mr Hapuku seemed more content ‘chilling’ in the unit, rather than seeking employment,’’ the board said.
The board called for a psychological report assessing Hapuku’s risk for further violence and said it would consider this at his next hearing – scheduled for July next year.
‘‘Looking at all of the information in front of us, we are not in any position to be satisfied that risk is other than undue and we have no option but to decline parole,’’ the board said.
Hapuku has a statutory release date of September 25, 2020.
Hapuku and Mikara, the son of Hapuku’s partner at the time, were alone in a sleepout on January 11, 2011.
Mikara died from injuries caused by that single blow.
Hapuku’s defence was that Mikara’s injury was caused by a delayed rupture of his liver, a claim Justice Forrest Miller said was ‘‘utterly untenable’’.