Chains boycott book on Kahui twins' death

IAN STEWARD

Two major retailers have announced it won't stock a book by Macsyna King on the death of her twins, before it has even been released.

The Paper Plus Group issued a press release today saying they won't stock Breaking Silence: The Kahui Case, which is being written by Ian Wishart in conjunction with King.

The Warehouse also announced it would not be stocking the book, while Whitcoulls was planning to make an annoucement tomorrow.

The move follows the formation of a Facebook group yesterday, Boycott the Macsyna King Book, which urged people not to buy the book.

Some group members questioned King's involvement in the twins' deaths, as Kahui's defence team successfully did at his 2008 trial.

"Somebody like this should not be allowed to profit from preaching her perverted view of the horrific events which led to the deaths of the only two children who hadn't already been taken from her by CYF,'' the site says.

Paper Plus chief executive Rob Smith said the chain store had received a "significant volume of feedback'' from customers and had also consulted franchise holders and staff to "understand their position on the subject'' before making the decision.

"The prevailing opinion is that our stores do not feel comfortable selling this book and our customers do not want to buy it,'' Smith said.

"This is certainly not about censorship or Paper Plus taking the moral high ground. We are simply listening to our most important stakeholders and acting in accordance with their feelings.''

Smith said stocking the book was also at odds with the major charities it supported, Cure Kids and Red Nose Day.

"The health and wellbeing of children is always front of our mind when we are faced with decisions which might impact the stores and the communities in which they operate, '' he said.

Wishart said he wasn't surprised by the bookstores' decision given the Facebook page against its distribution had gained so much momentum and bookstores now had "20,000-odd people bombarding them with emails".

He said he had been contacted by people who had tried to pre-order the book at Paper Plus stores and had been told "they wanted to sell it but had been told they couldn't".

Wishart said the book would be available through his website and would also be available in Australia and the UK.

The "chaos that had erupted" over the book this week meant its publishing date had been pushed back to the end of July or the start of August, he said.

He still believes some bookstores would stock his latest project, 'they'll sell it in brown paper bags when they see how many people are buying it".

Meanwhile, Mona Kahui told an inquest into the twins' deaths today that her brother Chris thought she was "over-exaggerating'' when she noticed baby Cru's eyes rolling back and his lips turning blue.

Mona is testifying in the inquest into the 2006 deaths of her three-month-old nephews Chris and Cru Kahui.

She said she picked up baby Cru and noticed he was not breathing - his lips were blue and his eyes were rolling back.

"Chris thought I was over-exaggerating. I was still scared. I didn't think I was exaggerating."

Mona said Chris took the baby off her and laid it on the couch to perform CPR.

After Cru started breathing again, a scared Chris said to his baby: "Jeez my son, don't do that again."

Mona said her brother and her father, who was also present, looked relieved.

They did not call an a ambulance because Chris had a car and they were close to the hospital, and the baby seemed "okay", she said.

Mona said the twins' mother Macsyna King had earlier told her the boys sometimes "held their breath" and it could be fixed with a gentle shake.

Mona said she thought this is what happened and she had over-reacted.

Before she gave evidence, Mona applied to have her image suppressed because her children were bullied during brother Chris Kahui's trial for murder of the twins.

He was found not guilty in 2008.

Mona said she now had a nine-year-old girl in her care and she was afraid she would get the same treatment.
Coroner Garry Evans granted the suppression.

The Kahui case has aroused strong emotions in the public.

At the inquest yesterday, Chris Kahui's lawyer Michele Wilkinson-Smith examined how the twins could have received their severe brain injuries.

A four-person panel of medical experts was called on to give evidence.

Dr Roger Byard said the twins' brain injuries were from "severe deceleration", probably from the head hitting something.

That "something" could have been a hard surface like a bench or even a cot mattress, as long as it stopped the baby's head.

Wilkinson-Smith put it to the panel that "shaking a baby and dumping it down in anger can create these injuries".

They agreed but Starship children's hospital clinical director Patrick Kelly said he thought it was more likely that they had been "slammed" on something rather than "robustly dropped".

- © Fairfax NZ News