Philip Polkinghorne trial: Consult room used by Polkinghorne had 'concerning' level of meth contamination

Tuesday, 20 August 2024

Warning: The details of this case may be distressing for some readers.

Arriving in an unmarked car, a drug testing technician arrived at Auckland Eye in July 2021 to conduct a confidential analysis of the workplace where Philip Polkinghorne had worked as an eye surgeon months after he’d disclosed methamphetamine use to a colleague.

Polkinghorne, a 71-year-old eye doctor, has denied murdering his wife Pauline Hanna. She was found dead in the entranceway of their Remuera home on April 5, Easter Monday, in 2021.

The trial is under way at the High Court in Auckland where on Tuesday methamphetamine and utensils were the focus.

The Crown’s case is that Polkinghorne fatally strangled Hanna before reporting her death to police as a suicide. It argues he was living a double life, obsessed with meth and in a covert relationship with an escort in Sydney.

Polkinghorne’s defence is that Hanna was exhausted by work-related stress, had a history of mental health issues, was on medication, and tragically took her own life. Ahead of the trial, he pleaded guilty to methamphetamine charges.

‘Concerning’ level of meth in consult room

Jeremy Hill was a testing technician working for The Drug Detection Agency in July 2021.

The court previously heard from Auckland Eye's former chief executive Deborah Boyd who said she asked The Drug Detection Agency to come in to the business to test for methamphetamine in July 2021.

This was after a board meeting in May 2021, where Dr Susan Ormonde told the board after Hanna's death, Polkinghorne disclosed using methamphetamine.

This was in July 2021. Hill told prosecutor Pip McNab he turned up quite late at night as Boyd wanted a 'confidential test'.

'We weren’t able to turn up there with branded vans so used a non-marked car and I wasn’t wearing any signage to keep it confidential,' Hill said.

Hill said there was one room where there was an area of 'concerning contamination' of methamphetamine.

A level greater than 1.5 micrograms per 100cm squared is a risk of anyone in the environment, Hill said.

Of the 14 samples taken across 4 rooms, the swab from the heat pump grill in consult room 4 returned a result of 3.1mg per 100cm squared.

Previous witnesses from Auckland Eye have told the court consult room 4 was used by Polkinghorne up until Hanna's death. He didn't return to work after April 5, 2021.

Hill said he advised Auckland Eye the area should not to be used and they should employ the services of a reputable cleaning company to do remedial cleaning to decontaminate.

In September 2021, Hill returned to retest consult room 4.

This time he tested the printer output tray which had a result of 100. Hill said he gave the same advice around the decontamination process.

Under cross-examination, Ron Mansfield KC, asked the testing technician about the results of the other rooms he tested.

Hill said in consult room 3, meth was identified in the heat pump grill, keyboard, telephone, wall storage and on the south wall.

In consult room 4, meth was detected on the light switch, the heat pump grill and lower levels found on the screen display, keyboard and wall storage.

In the toilet there were low levels recorded from the towel dispensers and air vent.

Mansfield asked if Hill could tell whether he could tell how the meth had been dispersed or the amount. The technician said he couldn’t.

Hill was questioned about whether or not he swabbed the external air conditioning unit vents. He said he didn't.

Meth pipe and lighter found

Earlier on Tuesday, Auckland Eye’s clinical services manager Janet Wigmore, told the court how she arrived at work on a Monday morning in October 2020 to find a meth pipe and lighter on a table in a laser room.

Wigmore, who is the health and safety representative, said she was taking two staff members around that morning and showed them the laser room.

'Just as I walked in… on a brownish table immediately on your right as you came through the doorway there was a glass pipe and a lighter,' Wigmore said.

She backtracked and closed the door, continued her safety briefing before telling her boss what she'd found.

Clinical services manager Tracey Molloy said she reviewed CCTV footage from the weekend. Polkinghonre, the CEO, CFO and cleaners had been in over the weekend.

Molloy said Polkinghorne was there as late as 10pm that night and was seen with two people going towards consult room 4, but the CCTV didn’t capture anything further.

Under cross-examination, Mansfield said the independent investigation confirmed Polkinghorne attended to a patient on both the Saturday and Sunday, according to his patient records.

Molloy recalled that according to the CCTV footage it looked like the same people had come back to Auckland Eye on the Sunday.

Mansfield asked if Polkinghorne often saw patients who needed urgent care over the weekend or after hours. Molloy said that was correct and also agreed he took patient care seriously.

The defence lawyer also asked if Molloy had made any enquiries in regards to the glass pipe with the words 'sweet puff' on them, and whether she knew the pipe was readily available on website Ali Express.

Molloy said she hadn't.

The trial before Justice Graham Lang and a jury continues with evidence from a forensic account on Wednesday.