Sanft trial: Officer breaks down describing shot child

A senior constable broke down in court in New Zealand as she described seeing a man holding a child who had been shot in the head.

Senior Constable Jackie Fyfe was the first officer on the scene after the police car she was in was waved down on Favona Road in Mangere.

RNZ reports Gustav Otto Sanft is on trial in the High Court in Auckland for the manslaughter of his 2-year-old daughter, Amokura Daniels-Sanft.

Giving evidence, Ms Fyfe said she ran onto the driveway and heard a howl.

She said a man was holding a child with grievous head injuries.

Ms Fyfe said she needed to check for signs of life but the man would not put the child down.

She said she had also noticed three other children in a car nearby and used her jacket to cover their faces so they could not see what had happened.

Another officer, Constable Yutaro Kanai, said he approached Mr Sanft as he held his daughter in his arms.

Mr Kanai said he eventually persuaded Mr Sanft to put the child down and walk to a waiting ambulance.

He said Mr Sanft was wailing and crying and told him Amokura had been "playing up".

He said when he asked what had he done, Mr Sanft said he had shot her.

Later he said there was no coming back from this.

The Crown has argued Mr Sanft pointed a gun at his daughter as she jumped on a couch outside their Mangere home.

Defence lawyer Phil Hamlin said there would be evidence to show the gun could go off without the trigger being pulled and his client didn't aim it at anybody.

 

Photo: RNZ. Caption: The shotgun Gustav Sanft allegedly pointed at his daughter Amokura Daniels-Sanft.