KEY POINTS:
The GP who first saw mortally injured infants Chris and Cru Kahui asked the boys' parents if the babies had been dropped on their heads.
Otahuhu doctor Gopinath Nayar yesterday told a Manukau District Court depositions hearing a brief examination of baby Chris showed he was "neurologically very unwell" when the twins were seen on the afternoon of June 13 last year.
"The child didn't behave like a normal baby, and my immediate gut reaction was the child was significantly unwell.
"After examining hundreds of babies every month of the year, you realise something is not right on basic examination."
Cru Kahui was in a similar condition, and Dr Nayar said he performed only a brief examination, as the infants needed to be admitted to hospital as soon as possible.
He told the court he had asked the parents - Macsyna King and Chris Kahui - whether the boys had been dropped on their heads.
"I think the answer from the parents was no."
He said both parents seemed to appreciate how ill the boys were.
"I believed that they understood clearly what I said. They voiced no concern about my suggestion, and I expected them to go to hospital immediately.
"They seemed quiet. They didn't break down in tears. They weren't angry. They weren't hysterical. They seemed quiet and calm."
He said Chris Kahui had told him Cru had stopped breathing the previous night.
The boys were taken to Middlemore hospital that day, and later transferred to Starship hospital suffering injuries that included broken bones, brain haemorrhages and retinal bleeding. They died, hours apart, five days later.
Their father, Chris Sonny Kahui, is accused of murdering the boys while Ms King was away from their Mangere home. Kahui, 22, is denying the charges. The hearing will decide whether he will stand trial for the killings.
In other evidence yesterday, the court was told Ms King fell straight back to sleep after being told baby Cru's breathing had stopped.
Her sister, Emily King, said she had immediately tried to rouse Macsyna - who was staying at her Papakura home - after learning what had happened to baby Cru, in the early hours of June 13, last year.
She had lifted Macsyna by the head and shoulders in an attempt to wake her. She allegedly responded "yep, oh yep", when told about Cru, but then drifted back to sleep.
Emily King told the court she had to wait until the next morning before informing Macsyna of what had happened to Cru. She agreed with defence counsel Michele Wilkinson-Smith that Macsyna had responded "Okay, I am going to check it out when I get home".
A friend of Ms King's, Ginta Gaile, said the sisters had visited her New Lynn home on the evening of June 12 last year "just to have a catch up and have a chat and have some drinks".
She said all three were drinking from a three-litre wine cask that was "pretty much gone" by the time Ms King and Macsyna left, about 1am on June 13.
Macsyna King had appeared tired, but was in a good mood during the evening.
Earlier, Kahui's father, William "Banjo" Kahui, told the court his son appeared more than able to cope on the evening of June 12, when baby Cru's breathing failed.
"To be quite honest, he was more or less on to it, because his actions, he knew what he was doing.
"He didn't panic or anything like that."
Forensic pathologist Jane Vuletic told the court both infants were suffering historic rib fractures.
Both boys had died of traumatic brain injuries, she said.
The hearing, before Judge Roy Wade, is expected to finish this week.
