French denies any wrongdoing, with Judge Kim Saunders noting in sending her to jail on 21 charges that she continued to blame others for her predicament.
A series of falsehoods
French’s offending is vast and goes back to 2016.
While French, aged in her 40s, has in more recent years been living in Ōtorohanga, at the time of her offending she had moved on to a Murupara property with two friends.
One of the friends had sold his Auckland property and bought two adjacent sections there.
French moved into a house bus, while the two friends lived in a house on the adjoining section.
There was no formal tenancy agreement but she was expected to do general maintenance in exchange for rent and grazing for her horses.
Sally-Kae French was sentenced in the Hamilton District Court.
Things initially went well and, two years later, the man said he was considering leaving French the property in his will.
But he didn’t change his will and the friendship instead broke down.
In March 2018, he issued a trespass order, giving French 90 days to leave.
In response, French filed proceedings in the Tenancy Tribunal.
She went on to produce fake evidence purported to be from the other friend, the SPCA, a Whakatāne District Council customer services staffer, and the sexual violence survivor advocates.
French’s deceit worked, with the tribunal finding in her favour and ordering the victim to pay her more than $6000 and have her tenancy reinstated.
In other offending, French was also convicted of defrauding documentation from Vero Insurance and the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi over the sale of a vehicle to another man on Facebook.
French told him the vehicle he bought was stolen and she wanted it back, before filing proceedings in the Disputes Tribunal.
She then falsified further documents, on which her fingerprints were found, including those from a Rotorua District Court registrar and NZTA about proof of ownership.
Other charges of forgery related to another attempt by French to claim the Murupara property by forging a sale and purchase agreement, which led to a caveat being placed on it.
A perjury charge related to Te Kūiti Family Court proceedings in June 2020, when she falsely claimed, on oath, that the victim had tailgated her to court and threatened to run her off the road if she continued with her claims.
The presiding judge, Judge Garry Collin, instructed police to investigate and found the claims were false.
In 2022, French and co-offender Toni Cross were jointly convicted of falsifying evidence in a Hamilton District Court criminal proceeding by coercing a man to take the blame for her offending so she could avoid a conviction.
Cross was jailed for 18 months by Judge Arthur Tompkins in May this year.
On the day of her scheduled trial last year, French admitted 19 charges of forgery, using a forged document, altering a document with intent to deceive, using a document and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
She then defended her perjury charges, for which Judge Saunders found her guilty.
French has had many defence counsel over the years, but representing her this week was Bay of Plenty lawyer Herman Roose, who admitted the judge knew more about the case than he did.
“I’m all too well aware that whatever can be said may be too little and is certainly very late.”
However, he said the Crown’s suggested eight-year jail starting point went “way beyond the appropriateness for the circumstances, even if the court takes a dim view of those circumstances individually and overall”.
He instead suggested a four-year start point before considering discounts, including the effect of a jail term on her children.
Roose urged the judge not to issue a prison term so that it “crushes the defendant and those who mean her well”.
‘Motivated out of malice and spite’
Judge Saunders noted Roose’s submission that French’s overwhelming concern was for herself and her family and suggested she embark on a course to provide them with stability and security.
“I can tell you now that I reject that submission out of hand,” Judge Saunders said.
“You embarked on a course simply to gain what you could for yourself and were motivated out of malice and spite when you could not do so.”
The toll on the victims had also been severe, including the main victim, aged in his 70s, who continued to ask himself what he’d done to deserve that treatment.
“And indeed a question he has asked himself many, many times,” she said.
“What he did was not give you what you wanted, and as a result, you engaged in this campaign against him.”
The judge took a starting point of 75 months’ imprisonment before allowing 20% in discounts, landing on an end sentence of five years.
Judge Saunders then allowed a further five months’ discount for totality and jailed French for four years and seven months.
She declined her application for permanent name suppression.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.