The mother of premiership-winning NRL star Payne Haas will claim a mental-health defence over the deaths of three people in a head-on collision during a police pursuit.

Uiatu “Joan” Taufua faced Queensland Supreme Court on Thursday for an arraignment on the three counts of manslaughter stemming from the devastating crash on a narrow rural road in the Gold Coast hinterland on December 30, 2022.

Joan Taufua, Brisbane Broncos player Payne Haas’ mother, was involved in a Gold Coast crash that killed three people. Credit: Nine News

Taufua was due to enter pleas to the charges but her barrister Martin Longhurst instead sought to have the matter referred to the Mental Health Court.

“This matter has a long history ... a psychiatric report has been a very long time coming,” Longhurst said.

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