In the Wellington District Court this week, her lawyer, Isaac Melvin, sought a discharge without conviction, citing the consequences of a conviction on her visa, not only for his client but also for her children, stressing the offending was out of character.
Police opposed the application, saying the consequences of the offending weren’t out of proportion with the gravity of the offending, which was assessed as moderately serious.
In considering whether to grant the application, Judge Jennifer Binns referred to affidavits from an immigration lawyer, who said a discharge without conviction would place the woman in a much stronger position in terms of immigration consequences.
Whereas if the woman were convicted, the lawyer said, the likelihood of her leaving New Zealand was inevitable.
Judge Binns acknowledged that deportation would have a significant effect on the woman, her family, and possibly her children.
But she declined the application, saying the consequences of a conviction weren’t out of proportion with the gravity of the offending, which included the significant sums of money involved, the agreed reparation figure of $158,000, and, although the woman had pleaded guilty to a representative charge, the judge noted the offending involved repeated acts of dishonesty.
Melvin said that since his client had lost her job, she’d undertaken voluntary work, was remorseful, and had written a letter of apology to her previous employer. She’d also undertaken counselling.
In sentencing the woman, Judge Binns adopted a starting point of three years’ jail.
After including discounts for the guilty plea, remorse, and offer of reparation, previous good character and rehabilitation prospects, as well as the impact on her children, the judge imposed a sentence of 10 months’ home detention.
But the judge declined to order reparation, saying that with the woman’s offer to repay the debt at $5 a week, it would take her 600 years.
Even paying off the company’s 25,000 insurance excess was unrealistic, she said.
After the woman’s lawyer indicated she would appeal the decision, the judge agreed to suppress the woman’s name, pending the outcome of that appeal.
Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.
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