Auckland, March 5 NZPA - A man whose partner is on trial for murdering a three-year-old boy in her care today denied striking him several days earlier,.

Patricia Angela Pickering, 38, has pleaded not guilty in the High Court at Auckland to murdering Dylan Hohepa Tonga Rimoni, two charges of causing him grievous bodily harm, and one of assault.

Pickering was Dylan's caregiver. The toddler died of brain injuries in Auckland's Starship Hospital on April 18, 2008.

Today defence lawyer Frank Hogan asked Pickering's partner Douglas Hoeta if he had struck Dylan several days earlier, on Saturday, April 12, before he was taken into hospital on April 16.

Mr Hoeta denied that he had.

Mr Hogan suggested to Mr Hoeta that he decided to put some distance between himself and Dylan by going to stay in Pukekohe.

"That's not true," Mr Hoeta said.

"Then you've told lies about your movements as a way of avoiding further searching questions," Mr Hogan suggested.

Mr Hoeta said that was not true.

Earlier today, Mr Hogan asked Mr Hoeta whether he had ever said that Pickering was a bit scared of him.

Mr Hoeta said he may have mentioned it.

"She was scared because I demanded to know what happened to my son," Mr Hoeta told the court.

Mr Hogan asked Mr Hoeta what he said or did to make her scared of him.

Mr Hoeta said he demanded to know what happened to his son.

"I think everyone changes their voice when they are having a stern word. I was being assertive.

"I said our relationship would be in jeopardy if I didn't get an answer," Mr Hoeta said.

Mr Hogan asked Mr Hoeta if he recalled a time when he had his hands round Pickering's neck.

"I don't recall that. I held her down on the bed by the shoulders," Mr Hoeta told the court.

Crown prosecutor Phil Hamlin asked Mr Hoeta about the day Dylan died, when he was at Starship Hospital with the accused and her brother, Adam Pickering.

Mr Hoeta said everyone was feeling very emotional at the time.

Mr Hamlin also asked Mr Hoeta to describe what restraining Pickering on the bed was all about.

"I don't know what the altercation was about. But she'd got me worked up," he said.

Dylan had been abused and neglected in the care of his birth mother, Jasmine Tonga, and Pickering and Mr Hoeta became his caregivers, the jury was told at the start of the trial.

They had also been told that Mr Hoeta smoked methamphetamine on a regular basis with Dylan's uncle, Matthew Ryan, and they were good friends.

Mr Ryan also said that Mr Hoeta had told him he had been on the run from police for a couple of months, and he hadn't seen Dylan for a long time. He was also involved with the Black Power gang, the court was told during the first week of the trial.

Pickering is on trial before a jury of seven men and five women. The trial is set to run another two weeks.