A young crown witness continued giving evidence on Friday in the High Court trial in Rotorua of five people charged with causing three-year-old Nia Glassie’s death.
Nia died from massive bleeding between her skull and brain at Starship Hospital 12 days after being allegedly kicked in the head by brothers Wiremu, 18, and Michael Curtis, 22, on July 20 last year.
They are are charged with murder while Nia’s mother, Lisa Kuka, 35, Oriwa Terrina Kemp, 18, and Nia’s cousin Michael Paul Pearson, 20, face manslaughter among other charges.
Under cross-examination from defence lawyers, the witness, who is giving evidence via closed circuit television, said adults and children in the Frank St house re-enacted wrestling moves seen in a PlayStation game the adults played.
The witness said the stunts were “fun” and agreed with Craig Horsley, appearing for Wiremu Curtis, that they were not meant to hurt but sometimes “got a little bit rough”.
When Wiremu Curtis wrestled with Nia, the witness said that sometimes Nia would “get giggly and laugh about it and sometimes she would get hurt and cry”.
The witness, who can not be identified for legal reasons, also described how children would have fun outside by swinging around on the rotary clothesline. Older children would hold on and be swung around. When Nia was placed on the clothesline and spun around, she fell through the wires and banged her head on the ground.
The 11 jurors also heard the witness helped adults prepare for Michael Curtis’ 21st birthday by climbing on to the roof of the Frank St house and helping to anchor a tarpaulin used to provide shelter for the party.
The court had been told previously that Nia had once been seen alone on the roof of the house.
The child will continue giving evidence on Tuesday. The trial is expected to last another three weeks.
NZPA
