Accused of neglect and jailed for theft
A Taranaki mother facing a rare charge of trying to block another person’s attempts to save the life of her daughter has in the meantime been sentenced to jail for dishonesty offences.
The 34-year-old, whose young daughter died of a suspected suicide in June last year, pleaded guilty to charges related to stealing orchids from a rural nursery on July 14, 2018.
The offending was committed while on bail for the more serious charges, which included impeding rescue and child neglect, and as a result she has been in custody since.
Yesterday, she appeared via audio visual link in the New Plymouth District Court where she pleaded guilty to one representative charge of burglary, one of theft and one of receiving.
Defence lawyer Paul Keegan said at the time of the dishonesty offending, his client, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been dealing with ‘‘serious drug issues’’. Together with Kararaina Makere Te Rauna and Courtney Elizabeth Young, the woman drove to Slaters Orchids in New Plymouth and loaded their car boot with armfuls of blooms.
But one boot-load wasn’t enough for the three, who returned later in the day and repeated the act.
The shop is unmanned and works on an honesty box system.
Claiming to be fundraising, the women then went door-todoor selling the $500 worth of flowers they had stolen.
They told buyers they were fundraising for different schools, kindergartens and parks.
Keegan sought a quick resolution to the dishonesty offences and was hopeful of a similar outcome for the more serious charges, to which the woman has pleaded not guilty and will stand trial at a later date.
It has been alleged she tried to stop another woman from saving the life of her school-age daughter
on June 25, 2017.
A charge sheet related to the offence states that without lawful justification or excuse, the accused tried to stop the person from attempting to save the girl’s life. The child died two days later, as a result of a suspected suicide, and the matter is currently before the coroner. It is understood the impeding rescue charge is an extremely rare type of prosecution and carries a maximum jail term of 10 years.
Other court documents show the child neglect charges relate to her children and the offending, which involved accusations that she failed to provide adequate care, food, shelter and protection, are alleged to have spanned a sixyear period between March 2011 and June 2017.
For the three dishonesty charges, Judge Garry Barkle sentenced the woman to four months’ jail and ordered she pay
It is understood the impeding rescue charge is an extremely rare type of prosecution.
$167 reparation. She has a trial callover date in relation to the child abuse charges set down for December 11.
In August, Te Rauna was sentenced to 100 hours community work and ordered to pay $167 reparation while Young pleaded guilty to a representative charge of burglary.
She will reappear in court on October 29 in relation to the burglary charge and on October 11 on a charge of receiving property, to which she has pleaded not guilty.