Some former colleagues have been called by the defence in the Philip Polkinghorne murder trial.
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And the court has heard how Pauline Hanna’s stress at work was discussed during a dinner at the couple’s Coromandel bach.
The trial is now into its sixth week at the High Court in Auckland.
Polkinghorne, 71, is accused of killing his wife Hanna by strangling her and making it look like a suicide at their home at Easter 2021.
The Crown maintain he was caught in web of infidelity, money troubles and meth and in a steeply declining marriage.
His defence team said there is nothing sinister and that Hanna, 63, working long hours in a stressful job, ended her own life.
One witness, former Auckland Eye receptionist Sharon Jenkins, said Polkinghorne’s patients loved him.
She also told the court he had a very good relationship with the clinic’s other staff and doctors.
Jenkins, who had house-sat at Polkinghorne and Hanna’s Upland Road home, described him as “very kind in general”.
During the Crown’s case, the trial earlier heard that Polkinghorne had become irritated and agitated at work.
Jenkins said he was “very upset and distraught” when he came to work after Hanna died.
Under cross-examination, Jenkins told Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey she had noticed Polkinghorne had lost considerable weight suddenly and seemed tired.
Re-examined by defence, she said she assumed with the weight loss and tiredness that Polkinghorne may have been unwell.
“I did wonder if maybe he had cancer or something like that,” she said
Leonie Darlington was another former Auckland Eye colleague to be called on Monday.
She said Polkinghorne was a perfectionist who had high standards, which he also expected of his staff.
When asked by his lawyer Ron Mansfield if Polkinghorne was polite and courteous, Darlington said he was.
“His approach to patients was very outstanding, he always put them first, I couldn’t fault him in how he treated his patients,” she said.
Darlington said Polkinghorne treated other staff “very well”.
Jillian Blakely is a registered nurse who operated with Polkinghorne across almost 30 years.
“He was very dedicated, he was very committed, he always had the patients’ interest at heart and I always respected him,” she said.
She said the pair had a good working relationship and Polkinghorne was supportive and encouraging.
The two would operate together about once a week.
Blakely, asked whether Polkinghorne was ever disrespectful, said he could be “a bit cheeky” but always thanked staff for the work after surgeries.
She said she couldn’t say she noticed Polkinghorne’s weight loss.
“I mean, theatre scrubs are theatre scrubs,” she said.
Witness says they never saw Polkinghorne be controlling or derogatory towards wife
Monday’s first witness, who cannot be named, said he never saw Polkinghorne be controlling or derogatory toward Hanna.
Nor did he know about any drug use.
On the subject of his extra-marital relationships, the witness said he found out about escort Madison Ashton at the “same time as everyone else in Auckland”.
He described talking with Polkinghorne on the phone on April 6, the day after Hanna’s death.
The witness said Polkinghorne was distraught and it was one of the worst conversations he has had.
He also said Hanna was under a lot of stress in her DHB job during the Covid vaccine rollout.
“It’s a hard job,” he said.
Investment adviser recalls dinner with couple
JBWere investment adviser Tony Glucina, who managed Polkinghorne and Hanna’s investment fund, said he vividly recalled a dinner at their Coromandel bach.
It was a few months before Hanna died.
“I suppose the thing that really stood out to us from the dinner…. Pauline didn’t eat anything during the dinner,” he said.
Glucina said his partner is a nutritionist so takes note of what people eat and the pair talked about Hanna not eating when they got home.
He said it was a full three-course meal and Hanna had none of it.
There was a lot of talk at the dinner about Hanna being stressed at work, he said.
“She was pretty stressed at that time which was a bit of discussion from them both,” Glucina said.
When asked how Polkinghorne treated Hanna, Glucina said the pair presented as a normal couple.
He said Polkinghorne was not rude or demeaning to his wife and was not controlling of her.
“I didn’t notice anything unusual other than the fact she was clearly a little bit stressed,” he said.
Asked under cross-examination if he was aware Hanna did not eat much, Glucina said he was.
He told Crown prosecutor Dickey he got a full tour of the Coromandel bach and he noticed no drug use or anything out of the ordinary.
Asking about Hanna’s stress, Dickey referenced that her colleagues have earlier told the trial she was fine at work.
