Philip Polkinghorne arrives at the High Court in Auckland for the first day of his trial for the murder of Pauline Hanna. Photo: NZME/Michael Craig
Warning: This story discusses themes of suicide
Suicide prevention experts are urging the High Court in Auckland to consider the risk of "suicide contagion" arising from media reporting the criminal trial of a retired surgeon accused of murdering his wife.
Philip Polkinghorne is accused of killing Pauline Hanna in their Auckland home in 2021, and staging it as a suicide.
Suicide Prevention Office principal advisor Tania Papalii has written to the judge presiding over the trial.
Earlier this month, in response to concerns from the Mental Health Foundation, Justice Lang said the court had no power to dictate how accredited media organisations reported proceedings.
"I appeal to the court to consider the advice provided from senior international and national experts in suicide prevention, which outlines the evidence that shows the association between the methods of suicide being portrayed publicly and further imitative deaths," Papalii wrote.
"The suicide prevention sector is particularly worried about there being further deaths associated with this case, [and] has initiated an intervention to monitor for any associated death, particularly by the method being described in significant detail."
Papalii included advice from four experts in Auckland, Melbourne, Vienna and Toronto.
Justice Lang requested the information be provided to media and counsel.
University of Auckland director of population mental health Dr Sarah Fortune said she was concerned about repeated reporting that referred to methods of death associated with suicide.
"I understand that the current matter before your Court is being examined from a criminal perspective, and that from a legal perspective this is very different to reviewing the circumstances of a person's death under the Coroner's Act.
"However, it is my view, that the repeated coverage, including detailed photographs of means associated with suicide, has a very real prospect of causing an increase in deaths by suicide in New Zealand.
"It is my opinion that it makes no material difference to the potential of suicide contagion that this is a criminal matter compared with a matter before the Coroner's court."
Fortune, who is a member of the suicide and media expert panel that works with the chief coroner to grant exemptions to restrictions reporting self-inflicted deaths, said if the criteria were applied in the trial, given the size of the likely media audience, "there is a real risk ... of contagion and that the risk is not outweighed by anything in the public interest of repeated direct references to methods associated with suicide".
A letter from the University of Melbourne's Centre for Mental Health and Community Wellbeing shared concerns about the murder trial.
Centre director Professor Jane Pirkis said numerous studies "unequivocally demonstrate that irresponsible reporting of suicide can lead to imitative acts".
She understood this case was a murder trial, "but because the legal argument revolves around whether the death was due to homicide or suicide, the method is clearly highlighted as one that is used by people who take their own lives".
Pirkis said in that context it was important for journalists to adhere to best practice around their reporting to avoid potential harm.
The Medical University of Vienna's Centre for Public Health and the University of Toronto also provided advice.
The trial resumes tomorrow.
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