Pauline Hanna inquest: Philip Polkinghorne accused of 'pretending' during some of 111 call

Philip Polkinghorne has been accused "pretending" over some of the actions he said he took the morning he found his wife dead in their home.

He denies the claim by police counsel Alysha McClintock at an inquest into the 2021 death of his wife Pauline Hanna.

Polkinghorne was acquitted of her murder in 2024.

He became irritated several times under cross examination by McClintock.

McClintock honed in on actions Polkinghorne said he has taken when he stepped away from a 111 call for 10 seconds.

The details of those actions are suppressed.

She accused Polkinghorne of "pretending" to do what he said he had done because the timing meant it was not possible.

Polkinghorne disagreed, saying sarcastically he should have videoed the whole event.

That prompted Coroner Tania Tehitaha to intervene, asking him not to use sarcasm.

Polkinghorne appeared frustrated when McClintock persisted with her timing theory.

"There is no evidence for whatever your ridiculous postulate is which you keep harping on about," he said.

McClintock noted Polkinghorne's evidence had changed several times since he was first interviewed by police.

He agreed and also agreed that some of what he was telling the coroner at the hearing was different to previous evidence.

But that could be explained by his distress and shock when he was first interviewed, he said.

Over time, he was able to consider what actually had happened and approach his evidence in a more considered way, he said.