Kahui disappointed inquest delayed

The lawyer for Chris Kahui says her client is disappointed an inquest into the deaths of three-month-old twins Chris and Cru Kahui has been postponed indefinitely.

The South Auckland twins died in Starship Hospital in June 2006 after being admitted with head injuries.

Their father, Chris Kahui, was acquitted of their murder in 2008.

His defence was that the twins' mother Macsyna King was the killer, but she has never been charged.

Mr Kahui's lawyer, Lorraine Smith, said she was disappointed the inquest had been postponed and her client was keen for it to start.

"Chris Kahui supports the inquest because it's going to bring closure to him. This is the last step in the process," she told Radio New Zealand.

"The purpose of the inquest is to look at the whole healthcare system to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again, that babies do go home to a safe environment and they're not going to die."

Hone Kaa, the head of Te Kahui Mana Ririki, which aims to prevent abuse of Maori children, said the twins would never get the justice they deserved, but the inquest would go some way.

"It's not just those twins who require some sense of closure, the public deserves some sense of closure as well, and the more it's put off the more agonising it becomes."

The inquest was due to begin on February 22 in Auckland District Court, but that date had been "vacated" and no new date had been set.

Authorities were understood to have had trouble finding Ms King, who may be living in Australia.

Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean said earlier the point of an inquest would be to take a wider look at the deaths, including how they happened and whether anything could be done to prevent similar deaths in future.

A number of groups, including the Ministry of Social Development, two district health boards, the Families Commission and police were to take part in the inquest, along with the Crown, lawyers, Mr Kahui and Ms King.

Kahui murder investigation head Detective Inspector John Timms said in October the case was not closed but police had had no new information since Mr Kahui's acquittal.

They would assess any new information from the inquest, he said.

- NZPA