A Rotorua jury heard today that murder accused Michael Curtis would give his partner a "slap up".
He and partner Oriwa Kemp are among five people on trial for the killing of three-year-old Nia Glassie.
One of the others, Nia's mother Lisa Kuka, said during five hours of video-taped interviews with police that were played to the court: "She's smart and he's got a very short wick when it comes to her getting smart. He doesn't beat her up. He just gives her a slap and she screams."
Kuka had been asked about a child's screams the weekend before Nia received the fatal kick or kicks to the head which caused massive bleeding between her skull and brain.
The detective was questioning Kuka over whether the reported screams tied up with allegations that Kuka's partner, Wiremu Curtis, had put Nia's legs into the fireplace when the fire was burning.
Kuka denied any knowledge of that but said Wiremu's brother Michael and Kemp had had "a little bit of a tiff that night".
Sitting with the other accused at a table at the back of the court, she and Kemp grinned at each other as her evidence played on the television screens.
Michael Curtis had locked Kemp outside and she ran around the house screaming to get back in.
"She ended up sleeping outside on the balcony," Kuka told the interviewer.
