Inquest into Pauline Hanna's death 'not a trial of Dr Polkinghorne'

<p>An inquest into the death of Pauline Hanna has begun in Auckland – with a reminder that her husband is not on trial.</p> <p><b>By Rowan Quinn </b><a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/community/872439/inquest-into-pauline-hanna-s-death-not-a-trial-of-dr-polkinghorne" target="_blank"><b>of RNZ</b></a></p> <p>Hanna was found dead at her Remuera home in 2021. Her husband, retired eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne, was found not guilty of her murder at a trial in 2024.</p> <p>The inquest will attempt to determine how Hanna died and the circumstances surrounding her death.</p> <p>Polkinghorne attended Monday's hearing, but was not expected to give evidence until next week.</p> <p><b></b><a href="https://www.tvnz.co.nz/player/newsclip/fresh-inquest-revisits-unanswered-questions-over-pauline-hannas-death" target="_blank"><b>Fresh inquest revisits unanswered questions over Pauline Hanna's death - Watch on TVNZ+</b></a></p> <p>Hanna's brother Bruce Hanna, his wife Shelley and son Jacob are also in attendance.</p> <p>They set up a framed photo of Hanna and a small bunch of flowers from the family garden in a white vase at the front of the court.</p> <p>They are wearing white ribbons on their shirts.</p> <h2>How did Pauline Hanna die?</h2> <p>In her opening remarks, coroner Tania Tetitaha noted an inquest was to try to determine how Hanna died.</p> <p>Even though some of the evidence overlapped with the trial, the purpose of the inquest was very different, she said.</p> <p>"I remind everyone that this is not a trial of Dr Polkinghorne," she said. </p> <p>She would only consider evidence about him if it was directly related to determining the cause of Hanna's death, she said.</p> <p>"No person is on trial, there is no prosecution, there is no defence, there is no burden of proof," she said.</p> <p>Tetitaha said she would try to determine what happened on the balance of probabilities.</p> <p>Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock, in court as counsel for the police, acknowledged the case was not a trial but said there was still a major question about whether Hanna's death was self-inflicted or whether it was inflicted by someone else.</p> <p>Suppressions meant media could not report anything about the mechanism of Hanna's death.</p> <h2>Dishevelled state of Pauline Hanna's room</h2> <p>In her opening, McClintock said there was a question about whether Hanna was the victim of an assault. There was evidence a struggle had taken place, including that Hanna's room was dishevelled, she said.</p> <p>The day before her death Hanna had gone to see her personal trainer, had made a meal for some sick friends and had gone to the rubbish dump, she said. There was no suicide note and no search on her personal devices regarding suicide, McClintock said.</p> <p>She asked the coroner to consider that some of Polkinghorne's initial account when he called police to report finding Hanna was at odds with what police found at the scene.</p> <p>There was evidence he had been active during the night, and a few days later he searched how to delete search history from iCloud.</p> <h2>A 'voyeuristic fascination'</h2> <p>Polkinghorne's lawyer Ron Mansfield said the police were still obsessed with the idea Hanna died as a result of homicide. They were fixated on Polkinghorne's lifestyle, and that made them prejudiced against him, he said.</p> <p>Mansfield said the police had a "voyeuristic fascination" with Polkinghorne and Hanna's lifestyle that was clouding their judgement.</p> <p>McClintock had been the prosecutor at the trial and seemed to be reverting to that role at this hearing, even though her role in the inquest was to assist the coroner with finding answers, Mansfield said.</p> <p>The suggestion that homicide was behind Hanna's death needed to be viewed with scepticism, he said.</p> <p>He said her messy room was merely because her bed had been slept in.</p> <p>Bruce Hanna addressed the court, saying there were still many unanswered questions about his sister's death.</p> <p>"That terrible day, 5th of April 2021, was the worst day of my life," he said. "Not only was I devastated by Pauline's death, but what I was told on that day I do not believe and I still do not believe five years later."</p> <p>He said he believed Polkinghorne was on meth the night Hanna died and that should be a major part of the inquest.</p> <p>"There have been many tall stories, misconceptions, lies, absolute garbage that I have heard and read. I hope these will be exposed in the coming days and weeks."</p> <p>The inquest will likely take about two weeks, with more detailed evidence from police, and a pathologist and pharmacologist from Australia.</p> <p><b></b><a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/community/872439/inquest-into-pauline-hanna-s-death-not-a-trial-of-dr-polkinghorne" target="_blank"><b>rnz.co.nz</b></a></p>