A mother pushed her four-year-old son's head hard onto a floor the day he was taken to hospital with nearly fatal head injuries last year, says a child witness.
The nine-year-old girl was speaking in a police interview played today at the trial of Itupa Julie Mikaio, 40, who faces charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and failing to provide necessities for a child.
Mikaio, of Blockhouse Bay, Auckland, was charged after her son Benjamin Mikaio had to be taken to Starship Hospital unconscious in June last year with head injuries that could have been fatal.
The Crown alleges that Mikaio was angry after Benjamin wet his bed that she hit him on the head and then threw him to the floor.
It also says Mikaio delayed seeking medical help for some hours because she feared having to answer questions about how he was injured.
Mikaio earlier today admitted a charge of injuring with intent after striking Benjamin's pelvis, hands, chest and buttocks with a shoe.
Her lawyer, Ted Faleauto, said she didn't cause the head injury, and that her actions after Benjamin became ill were appropriate for what she understood.
Two video interviews with police were played to the jury, and it was in the second that the girl described seeing Mikaio striking Benjamin.
She said Miakaio "chucked his head down and smacked it. She pushes it to the floor". She said Benjamin's head went on to the lounge floor "hard" and he fainted afterwards.
When asked why she did this, the witness said it was because he wet his pants and his bed.
She also described seeing Mikaio hit Benjamin with a shoe and part of a vacuum cleaner.
In the first interview, she described seeing Benjamin appearing to be sleeping on a chair afterwards. They then cleaned the house before heading in a car to see a woman who could help them.
The witness said Benjamin "looks like he's dead, he's closing his eyes" in the car trip.
Earlier, Mikaio's husband Haini Mikaio said his wife admitted striking Benjamin about the body with a shoe but she didn't know how the head injuries got there.
Mr Mikaio said she told him this alone the day Benjamin was admitted to hospital, and to a family meeting a few days later.
He said she described herself as "naughty, very naughty", and that she hit him to stop him being naughty as he was jumping up and down.
Mr Mikaio said he worked long hours and his wife looked after most childcare. Under cross-examination he described her as a good mother.
Crown prosecutor Deborah Marshall said Benjamin's head injuries were so serious that he could have died if he had not received surgery sooner.
The trial is expected to last a week.
