Trial begins for Auckland father accused of killing 3-month-old

While a young mother was out doing laundry, an “angry and agitated father” fatally assaulted his 3-month-old son, the Crown told a jury.

The 15 to 30 minutes while the mother was away from the home will be the focus of the trial and the father’s intentions. The Crown case is that in a moment of frustration Tipene Te Ahuru either shook Amaziah, struck him or struck the 3-monthold against an object. Or a combination of those to cause the fatal injuries.

“This was no accident, it was child abuse … it was murder,” Radich said.

In a brief opening statement, one of Te Ahuru’s lawyers, Daniel Taumihau, said the issue for the jury to consider was whether Te Ahuru had the intention or the foresight to cause Amaziah’s death, or was it all just an accident.

He asked them to keep an open mind and listen to all the evidence as there was multiple possibilities in this case.

Amaziah died from a brain bleed after a lack of oxygen. But Radich said that was not the only injury. The 3-month-old had bleeding around the spinal cord, ligament damage to the neck, rib fractures, trauma to the abdominal area, bleeding of the eyes and a fractured arm.

As the mother rushed back from the laundry, she managed to connect with Te Ahuru who told her their son wasn’t breathing. She told him to immediately ring 111, but he didn’t, Radich said.

“She immediately knew something was drastically wrong with her son,” Radich said.

The mother called 111 as soon as she got home, with a brief snippet played to the jury yesterday.

“Oh my God, tell me he’s not going to die,” the mother can be heard saying.

Radich said the seven-minute call will be played to the jury where the calltaker talked the mother through how to administer CPR until first responders arrived.

Once paramedics arrived, Radich said Te Ahuru told them he’d put a crying Amaziah to bed and left the room. He later went to check on him, but found him unresponsive.

After 30 minutes of CPR, paramedics managed to restore a heart beat and Amaziah was rushed to hospital. He was kept on life support for 11 days, barely 100 days after being born, Radich said.

The defendant gave varying explanations as to what happened, all the Crown say are not true. Te Ahuru initially denied any knowledge of what happened. He later told police he dropped Amaziah and then he later said he’d shaken him.

The Crown case is that Te Ahuru was angry and frustrated when he was physically violent to his son and caused Amaziah’s death.

Radich said the Crown say Te Ahuru either intentionally killed him or intentionally injured him knowing there was a risk of death.

The trial before Justice Jane Anderson and a jury continues.