Philip Polkinghorne sobs as 111 call played again for jury

Murder-accused former eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne sobbed loudly in court as his 111 call was played to jurors again.

The jury in Polkinghorne's trial has had a delayed start to the morning on Thursday, before beginning their deliberations.

Polkinghorne is on trial in the High Court at Auckland accused of murdering his wife, Pauline Hanna, and staging it as suicide.

The defence argues Hanna took her own life.

Thursday morning began with Justice Graham Lang clarifying a few points about injuries found on Hanna's body, and questions that weren't put to experts, including when they could have been made.

Jurors had requested to listen to the 111 call Polkinghorne made after his wife's death, as well as a recording of Pauline Hanna taken by her niece before they begin their deliberations.

The 111 call was played after a few false starts, but proceedings were disrupted again by Polkinghorne loudly sobbing from his seat in the courtroom, his head in his hands.

He was excused briefly and jurors retired before listening to the second recording.

The jury returned to the courtroom to listen to the recording taken by Hanna's neice Rose Hanna, in which Pauline Hanna described Polkinghorne as a sex fiend.

In the recording, Pauline Hanna lamented her marriage to Polkinghorne, to her brother Bruce Hanna and her niece, but asserted that Polkinghorne loved her and she still loved him.