Supervision after attempt to kill baby

A southern woman who tried to kill her baby by smothering it with a pillow was yesterday sentenced to supervision by a High Court justice.

The 19-year-old woman, who has permanent name suppression, appeared before Justice John Fogarty in the Invercargill High Court for sentence on a charge of attempted infanticide on January 25 last year.

The woman pleaded guilty to the charge last month.

She was sentenced to two years' intensive supervision and directed to undergo further psychiatric treatment and counselling.

Justice Fogarty said the woman had a mental health problem serious enough that even she might not have been aware of it.

The offence of infanticide allowed the court to consider the mental state of the person committing the offence, he said.

He acknowledged the rigours of childbirth could have intensified her mental health problem.

Since the offence occurred the woman had received care from clinical psychiatrists, he said.

Justice Fogarty declined to give any details of the offending but at a previous court appearance it was reported the woman held a pillow over her then 4-month-old child for about a minute.

The court heard it was her mother's intervention that put a stop to the episode.

Her lawyer, Bill Dawkins, said the woman had endured a difficult upbringing, shifted to all parts of the country, attended about 30 different schools, was subjected to different religious influences and was raped as a child.

The person who gave stability to her life, her grandmother, died shortly before the offence took place, he said.

Her state of mind was such she believed taking the life of her baby would save it from living the same life she did, Mr Dawkins said.

Justice Fogarty said both the Crown and her lawyer had recommended a sentence of supervision, which he agreed with.

All details that could lead to the woman's' identity were suppressed.

Whether the victim would ever know what her mother had done would be a family decision, Justice Fogarty said.

- © Fairfax NZ News