'But I didn't do it,' toddler's killer sobs

By Andrew Koubaridis

Patricia Pickering held her head in her hands and wept as she told the jury who found her guilty of murdering a child: "But I didn't do it."

The 38-year-old cried noisily as she was convicted of the murder of Dylan Hohepa Rimoni, 3, and was taken from court while Justice Edwin Wylie spoke to the jury.

She was then brought back and told she was remanded in custody until sentencing.

Crying supporters called from the public gallery in the High Court at Auckland, "We love you, sister."

She turned towards them and replied, "I love you too." She then put her head in her hands and said, "But I didn't do it." After she had been led away to the cells she could be heard sobbing loudly.

The judge called for pre-sentence reports and victim impact statements before the sentencing on July 30.

The jury deliberated for just over eight hours after a seven-week trial.

Pickering was found not guilty of causing Dylan grievous bodily harm

 and of assaulting him. Those charges related to injuries the boy suffered in the weeks before his death and included a broken rib.

As well as the brain injury that killed him, there were signs of earlier head injuries.

The guilty verdict for the murder charge was by a majority of 11 to one. Both not-guilty verdicts were unanimous.

The jury heard that she dialled 111 on April 16, 2008, in a panic and told the operator Dylan was in a deep sleep.

The Crown alleged she had slammed his head against an "unforgiving" surface that caused his brain to bleed and swell. He died in hospital after his life support was switched off two days after he was admitted.

Prosecutors showed the jury a door taken from Pickering's house that had an indentation in it in which a hair likely to have come from Dylan was found in a crack.

Forensic tests could not prove conclusively it was Dylan's hair but tests showed a link with the family of his mother, who was not related to Pickering.

Pickering's lawyer said she was not an uncaring monster and had been overwhelmed by sadness at Dylan's death.

He told the court last week that the case could be summed up by seven words Pickering said to detectives when she was first arrested: "This is all one big terrible mistake."