Coroner Alexander Ho on Monday. Photo: Stuff / Robyn Edie
Lachlan Jones' half-brother has denied being involved in the death of his brother and storing his body in a freezer, but confirmed he briefly left the search to buy marijuana.
The three-year-old Gore boy was found in a council sewage pond just over a kilometre from his home in January 2019.
Two police investigations found Lachlan accidentally drowned but his father has disputed these findings.
Over the past two days, his mother Michelle Officer has denied accusations of body dumping, a fake alibi and neglect during her cross examination, saying his father Paul Jones was abusive and manipulative.
Her other son, Jonathan Scott, faced similar accusations from the father's lawyer, Max Simpkins, who alleged he and his mum killed Lachlan after returning from kindy and she was irate because Lachlan was acting up.
Officer has denied these allegations which were put to her on Tuesday.
Simpkins accused them of storing his body in a freezer before it was dumped.
Scott - who was 16 at the time - said both allegations were not true and he was at work that afternoon.
He said he last saw his brother watching YouTube on the night he died before his mother came in to tell him he was missing.
He told the court his brother often hid in their house so he was not concerned at the start.
He confirmed he joined the search for his missing brother when she came in a second time, saying he walked the street before being picked up by a friend to go to an ATM to collect $50 and buy marijuana.
He was gone for 10 minutes, returning to find police officers at his home who told him to stay at home with his mother, Scott said.
He smoked that marijuana with his other brother and at least a friend in a friend's shed within hours of hearing his brother's death.
He did not tell the police in his initial statement about the marijuana, saying he did not want to get in trouble.
Simpkins said despite the fact his brother was missing and his mother was panicking and searching for Lachlan, he did nothing.
"That's right," Scott said.
Simpkins alleged he knew his brother was already down at the sewage pond.
Scott said that was not true and he did not know where his brother was as he often hid most days.
The now 21-year-old said his relationship with Lachlan's father, Paul Jones, was good when his mum first started seeing him, but it soon went down hill.
Jones would come home and start verbally abusing them, he said.
"You don't like someone who yells at you."
Scott gave evidence on Wednesday in Invercargill, but his testimony was suppressed until he wrapped up.
The coronial inquest will consider whether the pathologist was correct to conclude he died from drowning, the circumstances that led to him being found in the pond - including if neglect was involved, whether the evidence supports his father's allegations, and if anyone else was involved in his death.
Coroner Alexander Ho would also examine whether further steps could be taken to yield more evidence if that currently available was not enough to answer these questions, and any recommendations to reduce the chance of similar deaths.
