The Polkinghorne murder trial has been told Pauline Hanna once contacted her doctor worried about suicidal thoughts she was having in the lead-up to Christmas 2019.
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Philip Polkinghorne, 71, is accused of killing his wife in Easter 2021.
The Crown says he staged the death to make it look like a suicide.
Prosecutors say he may have been high and angry, or low and strung out on methamphetamine.
Polkinghorne’s defence is that he woke and found his 63-year-old wife dead after she took her own life. He was charged with her murder 16 months later.
The trial, nearing the end of its third week, has been hearing from Hanna’s GP this afternoon. The doctor cannot be named.
Polkinghorne’s defence team previously raised an earlier suicide attempt in the early 1990s.
His lawyers have also highlighted antidepressant prescriptions and the need for a psychiatrist.
Hanna’s doctor detailed to court medications she had been prescribed over several years.
These included Fluoxetine, or Prozac, to stabilise menstrual symptoms while perimenopausal.
She was also prescribed Naltrexone to curb alcohol cravings.
Hanna had reported drinking a bottle of wine a night and frequently blacking out, the doctor said.
She was also prescribed a weight-loss medication, Reductil.
Hanna was not prescribed Zopiclone, which was found at a high level in her system after her death.
The doctor said Hanna had never directly discussed her depression.
“She appeared well, and on these medications she didn’t have any issues,” the doctor said.
Two days before Christmas in 2019, Hanna phoned her doctor saying she was “not feeling well” and had “some suicidal thoughts”.
She told the doctor her husband had left her and her mother was in hospital.
“I asked her if she has any plans. She said, ‘No, I just don’t feel right’.”
The doctor told her to contact a mental health crisis team. They called Hanna the next day, on Christmas Eve, and Hanna told them she was feeling much better.
“So that was the last time I spoke with her,” the doctor said.
The doctor also told the court it was not unusual for a doctor to not hear back from the crisis team unless staff were absolutely worried for the patient’s well-being or safety.
The doctor said Hanna had not expressed any prior attempts to harm herself, nor had she spoken about prior suicidal thoughts.
They said Hanna presented as very nice and calm and would always reach out for medical issues.
The doctor added that Hanna was very happy being a grandmother and proud of her work.
Previous witnesses have told the court Hanna was very open about being on antidepressants.
The doctor said under cross-examination Hanna could be classed as having chronic depression.
The defence asked the doctor to confirm Hanna’s medication prescription by prescription.
“Serious issues were being raised around alcohol yet again?” barrister Hannah Stuart asked.
“Yes,” the doctor replied.
Stuart asked if this was at the same time Hanna was on Prozac.
“Yes,” the doctor again replied.
Stuart put it to the doctor that this was “very concerning”.
“Yes, on paper,” the doctor said.
Stuart continued, “In real life, if you knew Pauline Hanna, you wouldn’t say that. But I guess I don’t know how many of you saw Pauline Hanna sitting in front of them and presenting the way she was.”
The trial has now ended for the day to allow the hearing to be moved to another courtroom.
