Tait's disorder made him 'out of control'

Murray David Tait "was unable to control himself" after his obsessive compulsive personality disorder spiralled out of control following the involvement of ToughLove in his parents' life but there was no evidence that he intended to kill his father, said his lawyer.
Tait, 46, is on trial in the High Court at Hamilton after denying murdering his father, 76-year-old David Noel Tait, on June 22 last year at the 15th Avenue home he shared with his parents.
Tait is accused of bludgeoning his father with a hammer in the bathroom while his mother was out walking the family dog. Mr Tait Snr died in Tauranga Hospital the next day.
Tait does not deny causing his father's death but the jury will have to decide whether he acted with murderous intent.
The defence opened his case yesterday, calling only one witness - a forensic psychiatrist.
Dr Shailesh Kumar, who met with the accused on April 30 and May 27 this year, and carried out a mental health assessment after also considering Tait's previous medical history and evidence from the accused's mother and sister.
Dr Kumar said his diagnosis was that Tait was suffering from severe obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD),which explained his reclusiveness, hoarding, tight-fistedness, the rigid way he lived his life. He said Tait was someone who would not react well to change and if forced on him was likely to become irritable, angry, stubborn and even aggressive.
During his closing address, Crown solicitor Greg Hollister-Jones told the jury that Tait's OCPD explained the buildup of aggression but did not explain why the accused bludgeoned his father to death.
Mr Hollister-Jones said Tait's actions before, during and after the attack were evidence of his intentions to kill.
"It was a quite a deliberate, calculated attack aimed at his defenceless father using a lethal weapon to his head and striking him four to five times to the top of the head.
"The actions of a calculated killer, who after the attack used a flannel to clean the hammer, return it to the garage shelf, shut the bathroom door leaving his father dying, locking up the house then eight minutes later walked off the property and drove away."
Mr Hollister-Jones said even if the accused did not intend to kill from the outset, the attack did not lack murderous intent. After the first two blows, the deceased ended up cowering at bottom of the bath and Tait carried on the attack to "finish him off".
Tait's lawyer John Bergseng told the jury that the evidence from the accused's mother Janice Tait was critical in explaining what was happening in the house in the weeks leading up to the assault.
Mr Bergseng said Mrs Tait's evidence was clear that her son was "unable to control himself", particularly after his parents had acted on the advice of ToughLove. The accused's behaviour had deteriorated with two episodes of aggression towards his parents in the two weeks before the assault.
He said the Crown had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused had acted with murderous intent and the only safe verdict was that of manslaughter.
The trial continues on Monday.