Man guilty of killing partner's baby

Trent Owen Ngaruhe Hapuku. Photo / Glenn Taylor

Tears and apparent surprise greeted a jury's verdict in the High Court in Napier today as a young man was found guilty of the manslaughter of his girlfriend's 5-month-old son.

With three and a half hours of deliberations behind them yesterday, the jury took just another 30 minutes today, leading to 23-year-old Trent Owen Ngaruhe Hapuku's appearance back in court just before 10am, when he was remanded in custody for sentence on June 11.

He had denied doing anything to cause the death of baby Mikara Ranui Darius Reti, who was pronounced deceased soon after arriving with Hapuku and mother Jamie Reti at Hawkes Bay Hospital in Hastings on the night of January 11 last year.

The Crown produced no evidence of any actual assault by Hapuku, but contended only he could have been responsible for the "blunt force trauma'' which it said led to the splitting of the child's liver and severe internal bleeding which caused the death.

Hapuku had been in charge of the infant in a sleepout at Ms Reti's parents' Flaxmere home for much of the previous hour to 90 minutes, while Ms Reti was inside the house feeding and bathing her elder son.

Evidence was given that for much of the time, Hapuku had been focused on playing a PlayStation game.

Calling expert evidence to counter the claims, the defence contended the injury could have been inflicted earlier and argued the Crown had not excluded all other possibilities.

Dressed in black suit jacket and tie, as he was throughout the trial, which started on April 23, Hapuku bowed his head momentarily as the jury of seven men and five women delivered the verdict to Justice Forrest Miller.

As he was led out of the court, Hapuku shared the tears of his family, while others sat in silence, apparently stunned.

They'd been through two trials, the first ending with a jury unable to reach a decision last August.