‘Completely undone by evidence’

Troy Taylor’s story about how he did not kill 14-month-old Ihaka Stokes is a ‘‘see-through and implausible fabrication’’, a court has been told.

Taylor, the former partner of Ihaka’s mother Mikala Stokes, is charged with murdering and assaulting the toddler in July 2015. He has pleaded not guilty. The prosecution and defence delivered their closing addresses to the jury in the High Court at Christchurch yesterday afternoon.

Crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh implored the jurors to disregard Taylor’s explanation of what happened the night the boy died.

The Crown alleges Taylor assaulted Ihaka on July 2 and killed him on the night of July 3. Taylor’s defence centres on Stokes harming Ihaka while he was not home on the afternoon of July 3, the toddler then experienced a ‘‘lucid interval’’ before later succumbing to his head injuries.

‘‘It’s just a fabrication,’’ Zarifeh told the jury.

‘‘It’s see-through and it’s implausible and it’s completely undone by the medical evidence.’’ Taylor gave evidence in his own defence and said he lied to police to protect Stokes. He told the police he had heard two ‘‘bangs’’ from Ihaka’s room the night the toddler died. When he checked on Ihaka, the boy reached up to him. Ihaka then rolled onto his chest when he climbed into the cot to comfort the child. In court he said neither happened. He said Ihaka was unwell earlier in the evening and ‘‘floppy’’, with raspy breath, when he got into the child’s cot.

Zarifeh argued Taylor had doctored his story to suit the medical evidence. Ihaka’s injuries included head injuries and broken shoulder blades and if he had suffered them earlier in the day he would not have been able to reach up or roll on to Taylor. ‘‘I suggest that the defendant has taken those and [used them] as part of his story.’’ Defence counsel Phil Shamy said the Crown’s notion that Taylor was now lying to protect himself made no sense. Such a practised liar should have done a better job. ‘‘If you’re trying to get yourself off, why not go the whole hog?

‘‘Why not say Mikala got out of bed and beat the boy? Why not say that if you’re going to lie?’’ Shamy said the police were guilty of investigative bias. They honed in on Taylor when they should have also considered Stokes, who, when first asked by police if she killed Ihaka, replied, ‘‘I don’t know’’.

‘‘The whole interview is push: ‘You didn’t do it. Tell us that Troy did’,’’ Shamy said.

‘‘What might the police have found if they’d treated her as a suspect too?

There was no forensic evidence tying Taylor to the toddler’s death, Shamy said, and reasonable circumstantial evidence cast doubt on his guilt.

Stokes had testified that Taylor sometimes urged her to ‘‘walk away’’ from Ihaka when she was frustrated by the boy. Shamy cited this, as well as numerous text messages from Stokes to Taylor the day her son died asking Taylor’s whereabouts and describing a ‘‘tired and grumpy’’ baby.