Karl du Fresne
I’m a third-generation New Zealander of Irish, Danish and French descent. I grew up in the farming town of Waipukurau and still consider it my turangawaewae, although I can walk the length of the main street these days and not recognise a single face.
In the New Zealand Herald on Friday, Steve Braunias reports on the opening of the inquest into the death of Pauline Hanna, wife of Auckland ophthalmologist Philip Polkinghorne.
The circumstances of her undignified death are well known, having been exhaustively reported when Polkinghorne went on trial last year for her murder. He was acquitted, but the law still requires that an inquest be held.
Braunias reports that before Thursday’s hearing, Polkinghorne “teased” the officer in charge of the murder investigation. “Oh,” he said. “I thought you’d be working at Countdown,” he told Detective Sergeant Chris Allan – the clear implication being that he didn’t deserve to keep his job as a cop.
We don’t know whether it was said with a smile or with malice, but either way it will probably confirm the impression the country had formed of Polkinghorne during the trial – namely, that he’s an arrogant prick with a massive sense of entitlement.
Most men in Polkinghorne’s situation, having had their appalling behaviour exposed during a sensational trial that generated headlines for weeks, would have felt chastened. They would have been relieved at the not guilty verdict, gratefully taken it as a win and left matters to rest rather than rake over the coals.
But not this raging egotist, apparently. He has scores to settle.
This article was originally published on the author’s blog.
