Kidnapping nanny will stay in jail

The young nanny who orchestrated an elaborate plot, including a fake pregnancy, to kidnap a newborn baby could still be a risk to the community and will stay behind bars, the Parole Board has ruled.

Nadene Faye Manukau-Togiavalu, 22, appeared for her second parole hearing last Thursday by video-link from Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility in Wiri.

She was jailed for three years last July after her plot to kidnap an 11-day old girl was revealed.

But in the decision sent to the Herald yesterday, Manukau-Togiavalu will remain in jail for now.

“We cannot be satisfied that she no longer poses an undue risk to the safety of the community.”

While behind bars Manukau-Togiavalu has, however, completed a rehabilitation programme and told the Parole Board she has learned how to identify high-risk situations in relationships and associates.

“It appears that central to [her] offending is her [withheld] health and wellbeing. The board has very little information about this and what it does have is second-hand opinion,” the decision reads.

The courts earlier heard that much of Manukau-Togiavalu’s offending may have stemmed from the killing of her cousin — rising league star Luke Tipene. He died after he was stabbed during a brawl outside a party in central Auckland in November 2014.

She held her 17-year-old cousin in her arms as he bled to death.

Classed as a minimum security prisoner, Manukau-Togiavalu has also had several incidents while in jail, the decision states.