Mother caught smothering son, court hears

A High Court jury has heard Kim Knoll's brother walked into his sister's bedroom and found her apparently smothering her screaming two-year-old son with a pillow.

Ashley Knoll gave evidence yesterday, on day two of his sister's trial in the High Court at Hamilton.

Kim Knoll, 19, is charged with attempting to murder her son at her Te Aroha home on May 5 this year by stabbing him with a boning knife. She also faces an alternative charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Mr Knoll told the court he had gone into his sister's bedroom to look for a DVD remote control and saw Knoll lifting a pillow away from her son's face. His sister appeared angry. "I was scared about what she was doing, what I think she was doing," he said.

In response to questioning by Crown prosecutor Louella Dunn, Mr Knoll said it appeared his younger sister was trying to suffocate her child.

The Crown alleges Knoll stabbed her son in the stomach at her Centennial Ave home and then tried to suffocate him with a pillow.

In interviews with police, Knoll gave differing accounts of how her son received his stab wound.

On one occasion, Knoll said a masked intruder forced his way into her bedroom and attacked her son.

In another statement, however, Knoll said a tattooed man named "Wally" had accidently stabbed the toddler while playing with a knife in her bedroom. Knoll told police she then panicked and put a pillow over the toddler's face to stop him screaming.

Mr Knoll told jurors he had not seen anyone else in his sister's room or in their house.

However, under cross examination by defence counsel Michael McIvor, Mr Knoll said he had arrived home to find the front door unlocked, which was unusual.

He then said that it was only in hindsight he thought his sister had tried to suffocate her child.

"At the time I thought Kim was just trying to get the child to sleep," he said.

Kim Knoll's father, Reginald Knoll, told the jury he returned home to find his grandson blue in the face and struggling to breath. His daughter told him a man wearing a balaclava had caused the injuries.

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