Philip Polkinghorne blamed police for planting meth, and then his dead wife

Friday, 1 November 2024

Philip Polkinghorne has been sentenced to 150 hours community work for possessing 37.7g of methamphetamine and a pipe.

The A class drugs were found in his home by police during an investigation into his wife Pauline Hanna’s death.

Polkinghorne was found not guilty of murdering his wife in September.

Retired eye doctor Philip Polkinghorne initially blamed police for the 37.7g of methamphetamine found in his Remuera home, then shortly before being sentenced he blamed his dead wife.

Polkinghorne appeared at the High Court in Auckland on Friday where he was sentenced to 150 hours community work for possession of the class A drug and possession of a pipe.

Polkinghorne pleaded guilty to the charges shortly before he went on trial, charged with the murder of his wife, Pauline Hanna.

At his trial in September, the Crown had said Polkinghorne strangled her and staged the house to make it appear she had died by suicide.

Polkinghorne’s lawyers argued Hanna had struggled with depression and her death was a tragedy and their client played no part. Jurors deliberated for two days and found him not guilty of murder.

It was during the police investigation of his wife’s death in April 2021 that detectives found methamphetamine throughout Polkinghorne’s Remuera home.

The drugs were in a desk drawer, in a bedside table and a bathroom alongside his toiletries. A meth pipe was found under his bed.

Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock said Polkinghorne had told a probation report writer the methamphetamine belonged to his dead wife.

She said that was at odds with evidence that emerged at trial, which included only his DNA being found on the plastic containers and Hanna’s blood samples taken during a post mortem examination showing no traces of the drug.

McClintock said Polkinghorne was asking for a fine of between $650 and $1000 but given the drugs had a street value of $13,000, that would not be an appropriate response.

She said there was enough drugs for an estimated 370 doses.

Polkinghorne’s lawyer Ron Mansfield KC said his client was not trying to shift the blame and admitted possessing the drug.

He said Polkinghorne had undergone drug tests since Hanna’s death and had not used the drug.

Mansfield said at the age of 71, his client had once had an international reputation as an ophthalmologist but had suffered a severe “fall from grace”.

He said Polkinghorne only used the drugs during holidays and weekends and had not put patients in danger.

In sentencing, Justice Lang said he was satisfied the drugs had been bought and used by Polkinghorne and Polkinghorne only.

“By virtue of your pleas, I am satisfied you were the owner and the purchaser of the methamphetamine the police found at your address, together with the pipe and lighter.”

He said ordinarily 37.7g would result in a charge of possession to supply but the police had found no evidence that Polkinghorne was doing that.

“The amount you acquired gives some indication you were using on a somewhat regular basis.”

Justice Lang said the maximum fine for the charge was $1000 but that was not appropriate.

“I am satisfied that, given your healthy financial situation, a fine would have no deterrent effect at all and would not be sufficient to hold you properly accountable for your offending.”

Justice Lang acknowledged Polkinghorne had undergone drug testing since his arrest and had returned negative results.

“In your favour, however, I accept that there is no evidence to suggest that your consumption of methamphetamine ever affected the intricate work that you carried out as a retinal eye surgeon.”

He sentenced Polkinghorne to 150 hours community work, allowing for a discount for his guilty pleas.

Polkinghorne initially blamed drugs on police

Justice Simon Moore made reference to the accusation in a pre-trial judgement. He said a senior detective was brought in to undertake an independent review of Polkinghorne’s claim.

The detective conducted an investigation and supplied a report but, so far, police have refused to release the report to Stuff.

The evidence was not called at trial.

But the jurors did hear evidence from colleagues and friends about Polkinghorne losing weight, falling asleep at board meetings and being irritable towards staff.

Evidence at the trial showed those closest to Polkinghorne saw signs consistent with him being in the throes of an addiction, although they were not able to attribute it to meth use at the time.

As early as 2018 colleagues began noticing changes in Polkinghorne’s character.

One of those was Auckland Eye chief executive Deborah Boyd who gave evidence she noticed him becoming erratic and losing weight. She said Polkinghorne told her he was on a diet.

She also reported receiving emails from Polkinghorne in the early hours of the morning and that the behaviour was concerning enough for her to talk to Auckland Eye ophthalmologist Dean Corbett. At the time the pair put his behaviour down to early onset dementia.

Dr Corbett also gave evidence, confirming he had known Polkinghorne for more than 30 years and the pair were friends.

He said Polkinghorne was stressed about negotiating his exit conditions from Auckland Eye.

Corbett said some staff refused to work with Polkinghorne in the operating theatre because of his behaviour and around January 2021 he talked to Hanna who told him she was struggling with Polkinghorne and his stress levels.

A forensic analysis of Polkinghorne’s bank account shows the doctor was haemorrhaging money. The Crown said it was used to fund his habit.

Between 2016 and 2021, Polkinghorne’s weekly average cash withdrawals increased from $582.69 to $1,750.00.

The Crown said the money was being spent on methamphetamine and it was likely causing a strain on Polkinghorne’s marriage.

Sydney sex worker Madison Ashton told police Polkinghorne was using “a lot of the stuff” from July 2020 onwards. She also noticed Polkinghorne had shredded weight, one of the side effects of the drug.

In October 2020, a pipe and lighter were found by a staff member in a room next to Polkinghorne’s consultation room at Auckland Eye - the Remuera eye surgery where he practised.

CCTV footage of the weekend before the drugs were found showed Polkinghorne was one of four staff members who had been at the private eye surgery over the weekend.

Auckland Eye’s independent director and board chair Mark Conelly said an investigation into who the meth pipe belonged to was inconclusive.

Auckland Eye called in lawyers Wynn Williams to carry out the investigation which could not establish Polkinghorne had anything to do with the pipe.

Subsequent drug testing after Hanna’s death found traces of the drug in the air conditioner that serviced the consultation room.

On April 14, 2021 - the day before Hanna’s funeral - Polkinghorne had lunch with his close friend, colleague and Auckland Eye clinical director Susan Ormonde and her husband.

She told the Court that Polkinghorne had said he was worried about “some other things that will come out”.

Ormonde said Polkinghorne initially spoke about his and Hanna’s sex life.

“When we asked what the other thing he was worried about was, he said: ‘drugs’.”

Polkinghorne used the word “meth” and she was pretty sure he also mentioned “cocaine”.

“He wasn’t specific as to whether it was he or Pauline but he talked about it as if it was both of them, you know, like ‘we use methamphetamine’,” she told Crown prosecutor Pip McNabb.

Ormonde said Polkinghorne asked her and her husband if they used meth. When they said no, he replied: “Well, you should”.

Ormonde said she was conflicted by the disclosure - on the one hand, this was a friend and colleague, speaking confidentially but on the other, she was the clinical director and had obligations to patients and the practice.

McNabb asked Ormonde if she reported the conversation. The doctor replied: “Absolutely”.

She told the company lawyer and the medical indemnity insurer, the Medical Protection Society.

Ormonde said the advice from the Medical Protection Society was that Polkinghorne should self-refer to the regulator, the Medical Council.

“The Medical Council would handle the situation more lightly when a doctor self-reports than when they don’t,” Ormonde said.

Some time later Ormonde said she asked Polkinghorne if he had self-reported and he said that he had.

“Although I did find out later when I spoke to the Medical Council that he had self-reported but he hadn’t self-reported the meth.”

Exactly what he did “self-report” was not clarified in her evidence.