Baby murder accused had nervous breakdown, court told

The Auckland High Court. File photo / Dean Purcell

A woman accused of drowning her 13-month-old son in the bath suffered a nervous breakdown when she found out her daughter was sexually abused while in Child Youth and Family care, a court was told today.

The woman, who cannot be named, has pleaded not guilty in the High Court at Auckland to murder.

The Crown says she left her son alone in a bath for about 15 minutes and emergency services were only called when her husband returned home 30 minutes after the boy's lifeless body was pulled out of the water.

The baby and his sister, five, were earlier taken into CYF care after their mother left them unattended.

During this time, the daughter was sexually abused by a 13-year-old boy living in the same foster home.

Psychiatric registrar Dr Zoran Simovik, who had numerous consultations with the woman, told the court today this had a big impact on the woman's state-of-mind and she told him the discovery led her to have a nervous breakdown.

"The fact the children were taken from the parents and the fact that (the accused) truly believed that her daughter had been sexually abused was one of the most significant (stress factors) in her life," he said.

The girl was assessed at Starship Children's Hospital where it was confirmed she had been sexually abused, he said.

The woman also had a traumatic childhood and was herself a victim of sexual abuse. Also, her father died in a plane crash and both her mother and aunt committed suicide when she was a young girl.

Dr Simovik said she also struggled as a new migrant to New Zealand but did not display signs of a major mental disorder that would impair her competency as a parent.

"She was a very intelligent lady and her judgment was not impaired at all."

However, she did have a "huge underlying anger", a disordered sense of self and was prone to mood swings, he said.

The baby died two days after being returned to his parents' care.

- NZPA