A Dunedin woman who filed a forged document with the court claims she is stumped as to why she did it.<\/p>\n
Courtney Paige Findlater, 25, appeared before the Dunedin District Court yesterday on a string of dishonesty offences, which Judge Hermann Retzlaff said formed a pattern of behaviour over recent years.<\/p>\n
On May 1, the defendant asked an associate to write a letter on his computer.<\/p>\n
The document, purporting to be from an Oranga Tamariki social worker, falsely stated Findlater had day-to-day care of her son.<\/p>\n
She then passed on the fake document to her lawyer at court the following day, which was in turn provided to the judge and Corrections staff who were preparing a report about her.<\/p>\n
However, when Probation contacted the named social worker to confirm the contents of the letter, it became clear it was fraudulent.<\/p>\n
She said she did not know what she hoped to achieve, though it is common for the court to treat offenders more leniently when they have the sole care of a child.<\/p>\n
As well as accruing the conviction for attempt to use a forged document, she also pleaded guilty to two counts of receiving and a burglary.<\/p>\n
The court heard there were two break-ins at Broad Bay School almost three years apart, in 2021 and 2024.<\/p>\n
A $3000 computer was taken during the first burglary and Findlater was captured on CCTV dropping it on the pavement outside a community hub in Corstorphine shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n
During the latter incident, a variety of power tools were stolen from the school, along with several paddle boards.<\/p>\n
Findlater sold a leaf-blower to Cash Converters and when police later searched her home they found some of the sporting equipment, court documents said.<\/p>\n
In April, the defendant and a couple of associates went to the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club where they accessed an unlocked shipping container and made off with three paddle boards, worth more than $1500.<\/p>\n
Findlater almost immediately listed them for sale on Facebook and police found them in her laundry.<\/p>\n
Judge Retzlaff noted she had similar convictions over the past six years, but accepted she had cognitive difficulties, which had been exacerbated by a head injury sustained during her teens.<\/p>\n
Findlater was sentenced to eight months\u2019 home detention and ordered to pay $630 reparation.<\/p>\n