KEY POINTS:
Macsyna King today admitted she did not fully understand the seriousness of her twin sons' injuries after visiting the family doctor.
Ms King, 30, made the admission under cross-examination after earlier saying that her then partner Chris Kahui had driven the critically ill three month old boys home despite being told to take them to hospital.
She was giving evidence on the second day of the depositions hearing in Manukau District Court to determine whether Chris Kahui be committed to trial for murdering their three month old twins.
Chris and Cru Kahui were admitted to Auckland's Middlemore Hospital on June 13 last year and died in Starship Children's Hospital five days later.
Ms King also admitted under cross-examination she had given birth to six children with the surviving four now in custody.
Ms King said that after discovering a fresh bruise on her son Chris's cheek and learning how his twin Cru had stopped breathing the night before, she and Kahui took their sons to their family doctor, after first visiting McDonalds.
Ms King described how she took her twin sons to the hospital by herself after Kahui left the family home without her.
Kahui had initially refused to join her at the hospital even after being told how ill the twins were, she had told the court this morning.
The crown has said the twins were killed either by a blow to their heads or by having their heads bashed against a solid object.
Their father was charged with their murder four months after they died.
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 subdural bleeding and broken ribs.
Yesterday Crown prosecutor Simon Moore said the injuries were of the kind received in high velocity car crashes.
The Crown's case is that the babies received their injuries while in the care of their father on the evening of Monday, June 12 2006, when Ms King was out visiting her sister.
Ms King has denied she is responsible for injuries which led to the deaths of the boys.
Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Lorraine Smith, Ms King said in the four hours between arriving back from her sister's house on the Tuesday morning and going to the doctor, she did not feed the twins, did not change their nappies or wake them, despite being told that Cru had stopped breathing.
After leaving the doctor's, Ms King said neither she nor Kahui understood the extent of the injuries or how seriously ill the boys were.
Mrs Smith said it was understandable that Kahui at that point would not think it was urgent to go to the hospital, preferring instead to go home.
When asked if Kahui was ever against Ms King seeking medical treatment for the boys in the past, Ms King said that he had never stopped her.
Mrs Smith asked whether it was true that Ms King stayed for less than an hour when the twins were admitted to Starship Hospital. Ms King said she did not know how long she had stayed for.
Mrs Smith asked whether it was true Ms King only visited her sons for five minutes on June 13, 10 minutes on June 14, before failing to visit at all on June 15.
Ms King replied she did not recall the days, times of amount of time she spent visiting with her sons over that period.
Ms King's brother Stuart King today said Kahui was looking after the twins on the Monday when the Crown alleges he caused the fatal injuries.
Mr King will continue to give evidence tomorrow.
- NZPA
