But at yesterday’s hearing, watched by Pickering, his whānau and a few of Huakau’s, she withdrew her accusations.
A heated exchange followed between Lily Nunweek, lawyer assisting the coroner, and Huakau, during which the latter denied being influenced by Pickering and his family to change her story.
Huakau told Nunweek she no longer believed Pickering was responsible and instead believed she, two other relatives and Pickering all had a “part to play”.
“But we are talking about the horrific injuries to Poseidyn’s head,” Nunweek said.
“All four of us that I’ve just named have a part to play in his passing,” Huakau replied.
Nunweek pointed out that in March, Huakau admitted at the inquest she had earlier given untrue and contradictory reports to police and at Pickering’s trial about the circumstances of Poseidyn’s death.
This included falsely telling police that Poseidyn slept in a bassinet and minimising her methamphetamine use.
Nunweek also pointed out Huakau had earlier said that, six years on from her son’s death, she was in recovery, sober and able to see more clearly the circumstances of the tragedy.
Then followed the written statement, Nunweek continued.
She said Huakau had written that she suspected Pickering of hurting her son and now, months later in court, she was retracting that statement.
“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say,” Huakau responded. “I’m saying the truth.”
Nunweek pointed out Huakau had written she believed it was Pickering because no one else was present at the time.
Huakau accepted that was what she wrote, but, switching her position, said she now believed the four all had a part to play as they were all home when Poseidyn was hurt.
A child’s car seat on the driveway of the home where 10-month-old Poseidyn Hemopo-Pickering was found unresponsive. Photo / NZME
Nunweek asked what had happened to make Huakau “back down” from her statement.
Huakau said she was not backing down but saying her “truth”.
Nunweek asked if Pickering was back in Huakau’s life.
She had contact with him, but he was not back in her life, Huakau responded.
Nunweek questioned whether the presence of Pickering or his whānau at the hearing had any “influence” on what she was saying, which Huakau denied.
“She also knows that we’re here to support her too,” a member of Pickering’s family called out from the public gallery.
Nunweek said she was trying to understand why, in Huakau’s statement, Huakau said she thought Pickering had “snapped” on the day Poseidyn was fatally injured.
“I can’t give you an understanding to that,” Huakau answered.
She agreed with Nunweek that the coroner should set the statement aside.
During the exchange, someone from Huakau’s supporters in the public gallery shouted that the inquest just wanted someone to blame.
Coroner Tracey Fitzgibbon at the inquest in March. Photo / Anna Heath
During Huakau’s evidence yesterday, her lawyer to assist Kima Tuialii asked about aspects of the evidence given by her sister, Pare-ana Huakau, in March.
Pare-ana Huakau had told the court that on the day Poseidyn was found unresponsive, she and her sister had arranged to split a packet of cigarettes.
Tuialii said Pare-ana recalled that Huakau’s bedroom door was closed, with Huakau, Pickering and the children inside, and she had to grab her bank card from Huakau through the window.
Huakau told Tuialii that account was a “lot of s***” and said she and her sister had never communicated through a window.
Tuialii also took Huakau through her sister’s evidence that she had seen cigarette burns on Poseidyn’s legs while he was alive. Cigarette-burn-like scars were later found on his body after his death.
Huakau said her sister never looked after Poseidyn, but conceded she may have seen the marks on his legs while in the Manurewa, South Auckland, home they shared.
Huakau also denied her sister’s claim that she had once thrown Poseidyn on a bed and, on another occasion, on to concrete while chasing after Pickering during an argument.
She did acknowledge, however, that she chased after Pickering “a lot”.
Huakau then told Nunweek she and her sister did not have a relationship.
She said that at the time the inquest began, it was the first time her sister had contacted her since Poseidyn’s death because “her [Pare-ana’s] kids’ dad” had been messaging her.
Nunweek asked if Huakau’s sister was angry or jealous about the man talking to her, and Huakau replied, “Yeah”.
Huakau claimed that was why her sister had fabricated the story about retrieving the bank card through the window, along with “other lies”.
Coroner Fitzgibbon said Huakau’s evidence marked the conclusion of the inquest. She said she would now consider all the evidence before delivering her findings and recommendations in due course.
Ella Scott-Fleming has been a journalist for three years and previously worked at the Otago Daily Times, Gore Ensign and Metro Magazine. She has an interest in court and general reporting. She’s currently based in Auckland covering justice-related stories.
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