Liberty's upset mother runs from court

The mother of slain schoolgirl Liberty Templeman ran from court yesterday as police evidence was heard from the 16-year-old accused of her daughter's killing.

Emotion overwhelmed Rebecca Templeman as the High Court at Whangarei was shown police video interviews of the boy accused of murdering Liberty, taken in the days after her body was found in a Kerikeri stream in November 2008.

Mrs Templeman was followed from court by her husband, Andrew.

Distressed supporters who have sat with the family throughout the trial wiped away tears, but stayed to watch the videos.

The accused, who was 14 at the time of the killing and has name suppression, appears in the videos with his father.

At one point on the tape, a detective tells him there are a "hell of a lot of inconsistencies" in his story.

Mrs Templeman left the court after evidence was heard about Liberty getting a bleeding nose, and the interviewing officer pressed the boy on his involvement in her death.

"Is it too much of a horrid thing to think about, to consider what you've done?" he asked.

The boy replied: "I haven't done, done anything."

He was also quizzed, on the video, about a shirt he had been wearing on the night of Liberty's disappearance.

He had initially handed police a blue shirt, but was confronted with a security camera image showing he had been wearing a green shirt.

He told investigators he did not know where the green shirt was.

The tapes also showed the boy telling the detective he had not gone into the supermarket with Liberty and some friends, but security cameras showed him doing so.

In the interview videos, the boy repeatedly denies doing anything to Liberty.

Police allege he attacked Liberty, 15, by striking her, strangling her and dragging her while she was unconscious, leaving her face downin a creek to drown on November 1, 2008.

They also allege he indecently assaulted her by moving some of her clothing to make it appear as if she had been attacked by someone else.

The court was told the boy broke down at one point during police interviews, and his father had allegedly told investigators his son would confess once he was arrested.

He was arrested soon after.

The trial, before Justice Raynor Asher and a jury of six men and six women, is expected to take until at least Friday.