Bain trial: Pupils' tales 'weird, disturbing'

During David Bain's trial, the court heard of violent stories in Robin Bain's school newsletter. Photo / Pool

Violent stories written by pupils at the school where Robin Bain was principal were sent home to parents only a few days before the Bain family murders, a court has heard.

The "weird and disturbing" stories, in which children describe close family members being shot and stabbed, were raised in the Bain High Court trial yesterday as the first of the defence witnesses painted Robin as being in a downward spiral in the months before the killings in his family home.

The court also heard that Robin, previously described by prosecution witnesses as a gentle pacifist, had "lost his cool" and struck two of his pupils.

His son, David Bain, 37, is on trial for the murder of his parents and three siblings in their Dunedin home on June 20, 1994.

Bain's defence team yesterday began their task of trying to show that Robin, 58, shot dead the family before turning the rifle on himself.

Witnesses who knew Robin through the education sector described how he went from being positive and well-presented to losing all motivation and interest in life in 1993/1994 after being turned down for a series of jobs.

"He wasn't taking pride in the way he dressed any more. He looked very gaunt, and very tired and ... just very unmotivated. Completely different from the person I first knew," said fellow principal Malin Stone.

Taieri Beach School, where Robin was principal and a teacher, was in a chaotic mess, with stacks of unopened mail and no evidence of planning. No work by pupils was on display.

Other principals from the same rural Otago area, with psychologists from Specialist Education Services (SES), went into the school to help after Robin's death, and said they found it troubling that Robin would allow the violent stories penned by the children to be reproduced in a school newsletter. This newsletter was sent to parents four days before the murders.

"Certainly in my mind I thought there might be some linkage," said Cyril Wilden, then an SES psychologist.

The stories came with the warning: "Some topics may disturb adult viewers".

In one story, a pupil aged about 9, wrote how a character "shot his mum 'it was fun', so he shot his dad 'it was funnier', so he shot everyone he saw".

Another story told about a girl finding her family dead.

School principal Kevin Mackenzie said he was troubled that any principal would send out such stories. It raised concerns about the person's mental health.

"Sometimes children talk like that, just in jest more than anything. But to write it down and publish it, I can't conceive it really.

"The whole thing is weird and disturbing."

Mr Mackenzie said such stories would likely have been motivated by teachings at school. But he agreed with prosecutor Kieran Raftery that television programmes could also have an impact on the children's writing.

Principal Robyn Davidson said some of the writing obviously had an adult influence.

Fellow principals had arranged a seminar aimed at helping Robin but he died before he could attend.