KEY POINTS:
With the police in pursuit, Margaret Mann sent her mother a text to say she was being chased.
The message came in the opening moments of the pursuit that ended with the mistaken killing by police of innocent bystander Halatau Naitoko.
Mum-of-eight Carla Mann, 44, told the Herald on Sunday she believed her third-eldest daughter Margaret was the driver of the stolen vehicle - with Stephen McDonald in the passenger seat.
Margaret, 19, faces three charges, including one for failing to stop for police on the day of the chase.
She was allegedly driving McDonald in a stolen blue Toyota Corsa, which attracted police attention when she and McDonald pulled up at a West Auckland address, noticed officers there on an unrelated matter and sped off.
Mann was arrested a short time later and McDonald continued on, allegedly going on to steal a green Toyota Hilux and a grey Nissan Skyline before the tragic shooting.
Carla says her daughter had initially texted to say she was coming to the family home for a shower and a change of clothes.
"Then they got pulled over and sped off," she says.
This was followed with a text shortly after saying: "Police ch". The time of the text tallies with the start of the police pursuit.
Carla told Herald on Sunday of her troubled life, which she believes led to her daughter's problems - and the chance meeting that brought Margaret and McDonald together 10 days before the tragic pursuit.
She said McDonald was an old friend, known as "Stretch", whom she hadn't seen for about 20 years. When Margaret met him 10 days before the chase, they found a personal connection through the past association with her mother.
"When he found out she was my daughter, he took it upon himself to look after her."
Carla believed it was the appeal of the much younger Margaret that led McDonald into the five-day binge his lawyer later said preceded the chase.
"If you're attracted to a young girl, you'll do anything she wants," she says. Margaret was a manipulative young woman, although "don't get me wrong", says Carla, "I love my daughter".
Margaret told her mother she had met McDonald and the pair came to the Glen Eden house the day before the chase.
"He hooked up with my daughter and then, in a week and a half, this is what happened. Their paths crossed and bad things happened."
The trouble didn't end with her arrest. On Wednesday, as she was being brought into court, she became involved in a fight in the cells. "Margaret, she's always so fiery."
Last Thursday, Carla visited Margaret in Auckland Women's Correctional Facility at Manukau, and was struck by how contrite she was.
Carla said her troubled life had led to trouble for her daughter. She had been a street kid herself from the age of nine, and was in trouble with the police for a number of years. She says she started having children to a series of partners and tried to move out of the drinking and drug scene.
However, CYF removed her children, including Margaret, because of Carla's problems with alcohol and fighting.
She claims she was a "mess" when she was released from social service, and more so when she later fell pregnant at 16.
The removal of Margaret's son almost immediately after the birth two years ago caused her daughter to spiral out of control, says Carla.
"She never even got to leave the hospital with him. They never gave her a chance."
Carla said she hoped Margaret learned to avoid trouble faster than she had. Until she did, "I'll be there to support her, no matter what".
"She wants to take the hard road. I've warned her about that road. I want her to go a different road. But she wants to be the same as me. I don't know ... because she loves me?"
