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Polkinghorne, 71, is accused of strangling his wife Pauline Hanna Before you call 111 The police were informed of her suicide by hanging on the morning of April 5, 2021. Police became suspicious almost immediately after noticing something unusual about the couple’s sex life. Remulla HouseThey included a rope that appeared to be tied too loosely to support a person’s weight, a messy room where Hannah allegedly slept and several stashes of methamphetamine.
Meanwhile, the defense argued that Hannah’s death was a tragic suicide as she had struggled with depression for decades and her work stress reached new heights as she helped promote the COVID-19 vaccine.
Corbett said today he had known Polkinghorne since around 1990, when he was a student and the accused was his tutor. They became colleagues at the Auckland Eye Hospital around 2001 and saw each other socially from time to time.
Polkinghorne’s specialty is fundus examination, and people who specialize in this relatively new field are often considered people’s “last hope” before they go blind, said Corbett, who explained that most people he knows who work in this specialty tend to be “more nervous than some other specialty areas.”
But colleagues said Polkinghorne was unique in that he had “no tolerance for things not going well in the operating theatre”, explaining that he would become “extremely frustrated”.
“It’s never about revenge,” Corbett explained. “It’s always in the best interest of the patient.”
But Corbett said the board tasked him with discussing the matter with Polkinghorne around 2018 or 2019 after theatre staff complained about the doctor’s aggressive behaviour.
Over the next six months, Corbett said he called Hannah four to six times to discuss her husband’s behavioral issues at work. But he felt she was unable to address the problem. He said he suggested he might benefit from “medical assistance” such as counseling, but he followed up to find that never happened.
At a meeting about a month after Hannah’s death, the committee was told Polkinghorne had disclosed to a doctor that he had been using methamphetamine. Corbett said the New Zealand Medical Council had been informed, as was their obligation.
Defence counsel Ron Mansfield KC noted in cross-examination that Corbett said in a statement to police that he was “a bit nervous at times” in the operating theatre and had a “low tolerance for disruptions”, describing it as “an old-school approach” that was not common among young surgeons today. The counsel said it could apply to many professions.
Corbett agreed, but said it doesn’t stop there.
“I think his behavior has changed,” he said. “He seems like a completely different person. We all have our own theories as to why that is.”
He said some have speculated that it could be due to memory loss.
Corbett said he occasionally saw Polkinghorne and his wife at social events and also saw them at work over the past year. Polkinghorne and Hannah often showed up in matching outfits and “looked adoring of each other,” he said of those events.
But others who took the witness stand today gave a very different account of the couple’s relationship.
“From the beginning of their marriage, Philip came across as very controlling,” said Victoria Pheasant Riordan, a longtime friend of Philip’s who served as maid of honor at the couple’s wedding.
Riordan said she had no idea Hannah had been physically abused until she ran into her at a restaurant in Havelock North more than a year before her death.
“She became very agitated, and she described to us what Philip had done to her,” Riordan testified, as she became so agitated that she put her hands around her throat and demonstrated the moves her friend had shown her. “He did this to her and said he could do it anytime. She took it as a threat — a real threat that he could do it to her anytime.”
The witness’ husband, John Riordan, gave a similar account of the conversation.
“She said she had to be very, very careful with him because she wasn’t sure if he would lose his temper,” John Riordan testified. “What she was telling us was getting more and more serious. Then she stopped talking and then she did this.”
John Riordan also put his hands around his neck.
“She didn’t say anything for about five seconds,” he said, explaining that she remained in that position before she explained to the couple: “He tried to strangle me.”
Prosecutor Alyssa McClintock asked him how sure he was about the terms Hannah used – particularly the word “strangled”. He said his memory was “very accurate” – “100 percent”.
“I just said to her, ‘Pack your bags and come live with us,'” he recalled. “My attitude was, he did it once, he’ll do it again. That’s what I said to her.”
But both Riordans said Hannah objected. John Riordan recalled that Hannah said her husband later expressed remorse and told her it would never happen again.
“She kind of withdrew a little bit,” said Victoria Riordan, whose middle name is Pheasant. “She almost didn’t want to talk about it, I think. That was my impression. It was a little emotional at the time.”
The next day, Pheasant Riordan sent her friend a follow-up text message, a copy of which jurors saw, that said: “I wish I could ease your pain.”
A month later, the two texted again, and this time Hannah replied: “I’ve been here as PJP (Polkinghorne) for a few weeks and I feel much better and everyone is much friendlier. He is back to his old self!”
Jurors also heard today from Alison Lin, a close friend of Hannah and Polkinghorne for about 30 years, who described a series of revelations Hannah made about her marital problems in the years before her death.
She recalled a dinner the couple had at the Northern Club in June 2020, when Polkinghorne became “extremely emotional” about the Auckland Eye issue. At one point, she said, she and Hannah walked out together for a private conversation.
“She told me she was very concerned about Polk’s mental health,” Ringer recalled.
“She said she was really worried. He was difficult, verbally aggressive – but not physically – and she couldn’t rely on him.”
Ling said she suggested Polkinghorne see a counselor, and her friend agreed it was a good idea.
While she couldn’t pinpoint a specific date, Ring also recalled a conversation with Hanna sometime in 2019 or 2020 in which Hanna said her husband was having an affair. Hanna said she discovered it while looking at her husband’s laptop.
She recalled Hannah saying: “I don’t care how many prostitutes he screws around Sydney, but I won’t tolerate him having an affair with someone in my family.”
Linge said when she asked Hannah what she was going to do, the friend said she had a plan.
She recalled Hannah saying, “I’m going to go get a lawyer, make a will, and get my finances in order.”
Earlier this month, prosecutors speculated in their opening statements that Polkinghorne and Hannah may have been feuding over finances, his “double life” with an Australian sex worker or the large sums of money he had spent on sex workers at the time of Hannah’s death.
Read live updates from today’s hearing
The six-week trial has attracted huge crowds of spectators to the courthouse’s largest courtroom since it opened two and a half weeks ago. Today, Judge Graham Long warned the unusually large and sometimes rowdy crowd that starting Friday the trial would be temporarily moved to a smaller courtroom to facilitate access to the Supreme Court.
Audience members who wish to attend are advised to arrive early.
Captain Craig is a reporter based in Oakland covering courts and judicial affairs. He joined The Herald He took up the position in 2021 and has covered court news since 2002 from three newsrooms in the United States and New Zealand.
this The Herald Covering the case in a daily podcast, Defendant: Polkinghorne CaseYou can follow the podcast at Love Radio, Apple Podcasts, Spotifypass front page feed, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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