KEY POINTS:
The father of the man accused of killing his infant twin sons said one of the baby boys looked normal to him just moments after he was told the baby had stopped breathing.
William Banjo Kahui testified at a depositions hearing in Manukau District Court today that he cradled the infant Cru after his son Chris 22, had administered CPR.
Mr Kahui, who had completed a CPR course himself, said he did not know if his son was doing it properly, so took the baby from him.
At the stage the baby "looked normal" and he did not see anything wrong with him.
Just the same he performed chest compressions.
The depositions hearing, which ended its fifth day, will decide whether Chris Kahui will stand trial for murder.
He was accused of killing his three-month-old sons Cru and Chris four months after their deaths in Starship Hospital in June 2006.
The Crown claims the babies received the injuries from which they died while in the care of their father on the evening of Monday, June 12.
The babies' mother Macsyna King was out visiting her sister that night.
The Crown alleges the twins were killed either by a blow to their heads or by having their heads bashed against a solid object.
Scans taken when they were first admitted to hospital showed both suffered from extensive brain injuries and that Chris also had a broken leg.
Both babies suffered from subdureal bleeding and broken ribs.
Asked today by Crown prosecutor Richard Marchant if he had hurt the twins, Mr Kahui replied he would never do anything like that.
He told the court that when he arrived at his son's house on the Monday night with his daughter Mona, he wanted to know the whereabout of Ms King, the twins' primary care-giver.
He said he was upset she was not there.
He said his son said "no" when he asked him if he and Ms King were fighting, and he had added that "everything was going to be alright" and that Ms King was just taking a break.
Then he heard his daughter Mona say "something's wrong with baby", that he was not breathing, after she picked up Cru.
Mr Kahui said he went into the twins' bedroom and watched his son Kahui put his other son back into the cot.
Kahui had started to perform CPR on Cru, tilting his head back and breathing into his mouth twice, he said.
Cru did not look like he was gasping for air and he did not notice anything unusual about his appearance, he said. "He just looked normal."
But he performed chest compressions anyway.
Mr Kahui said he then took his daughter to try to find Ms King, instead of getting an ambulance, because she was the one responsible for the children.
After dropping his daughter off at the hospital to visit her mother Mr Kahui returned to his son's house and saw the twins in their cot.
Mr Kahui said the next morning he saw Ms King and told her he was disappointed that she had not been there on the Monday evening.
Ms King seemed alright, he said.
The twins were already changed and he knew they were going to the doctor because Shane, Kahui's one-year-old son, had been ill, he said.
Mr Kahui said he saw the twins in their carseats and they did not seem to be injured.
About 6pm he got a phone call saying the twins were in hospital and he initially thought that it was "okay" until he was told they were in intensive care.
The hearing continues on Monday when Mr Kahui will be cross-examined.
- NZPA
