A young Auckland mother has this morning admitted to causing the death of her infant son two years ago.
The woman – who continues to have name suppression – pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Auckland High Court today.
She had previously been charged with murder but the prosecution amended the charge, the court heard today. She was due to go on trial next week.
She also pleaded guilty to two representative counts of assault on a child: One count of assaulting her four-week-old son before his death and one count of assaulting her other son, who was two-years-old at the time.
“A charge may be representative if multiple offences of the same type are alleged to have been committed in similar circumstances,” the Ministry of Justice website explained.
The woman faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment on the manslaughter charge and two years imprisonment for each of the assault charges. Justice Matthew Downs convicted her on all three charges in court this morning as the woman stood in the dock.
Her name suppression continues until her sentencing in July at least.
She was remanded on bail for “compassionate reasons” – but Justice Downs stressed that she would ordinarily be remanded in custody, and she should expect to be imprisoned come sentencing.
What happened?
After today’s court appearance, the court summary of facts for the case was released to media.
The summary explained that the woman was 19 at the time of the baby’s death at Starship Hospital in January 2022.
She was the sole caregiver for her two children. “Her only source of income was the benefit,” the summary said.
The summary explained that the mother would “smack” her older son on “a number of occasions” before the second boy’s birth.
It also said the mother hit her older son on the day she was discharged from hospital after her younger son’s birth.
Two weeks after she was discharged, in December 2021, she texted the children’s father. The mother said she was “really struggling with the kids right now” and “can’t do this s**t on my own anymore”. She said she was “f*****g struggling mentally”.
In early January 2022, she sent the father “a number of text messages… in which she threatened to harm her children”, the summary said, including one that said: “It’s not gonna be pretty if I let my anger out inside the apartment around or towards the kids.”
At post-mortem, the younger son was found to have healing clavicle and rib fractures, caused by incidents before his death.
The child’s death
On January 14 that year, the fatal incident occurred.
“At some point prior to 9pm, [the mother] became frustrated with [the younger son] and momentarily lost control,” the summary said.
“She shook [the boy] forcefully, causing severe brain injuries that were a substantial and operative cause of his death.”
The mother left seven missed calls on the father’s phone. Eventually, they spoke on the phone. She asked him to buy paracetamol.
At 3.46am the next day, she called Healthline “but hung up before talking to anyone”.
“[The mother] did not call emergency services at any time,” the summary noted.
At about 7.18am, the mother tried Healthline again and was on hold for 42 seconds before terminating the call.
She then asked the father for a ride to the hospital – but he refused, saying he had to work.
The mother then took the bus to Starship Hospital with both of her sons. When they arrived, the younger son was having seizures.
“There was bleeding around the brain, severe retinal haemorrhages and a retinal tear.
“These injuries were the result of [the mother’s] actions,” the summary said.
The boy was pronounced dead on January 16. He was a little under five weeks old.
The defence
The mother told hospital staff the injuries had been caused by the older boy falling onto the younger boy’s head while he was jumping on the bed near the infant.
“She later provided a statement through the Police 105 website to the effect that she had often hit [the younger boy’s] head accidentally on door frames, walls, and the edge of his cot,” the summary said.
“[The mother] said that she had taken [the boy] to hospital by bus because she could not afford an ambulance fee or an Uber fare.”
She had not previously appeared in court.
She was initially charged in January last year, about a year after the infant’s death.