He also recognised she was expecting her fifth child and was facing other personal challenges. <\/p>\n
The woman, who sobbed with relief at the decision, was partway through studies aimed at securing her future, the court heard.<\/p>\n
Conviction \u2018barrier to future employment\u2019<\/p>\n
The woman\u2019s lawyer, Amanda Godwin, said her time away from the workforce would be a barrier to her returning to work, and a conviction would only make it harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe circumstances that led to the offending were during a period of acute stress and one month post-partum,\u201d Godwin said.<\/p>\n
She said the police opposition was simplistic and had overlooked a key issue in that the woman had been dealing with four children on her own, when her partner had recently returned to work.<\/p>\n
Godwin said the woman\u2019s family background was also \u201cfairly complex\u201d.<\/p>\n
Police prosecutor Rebecca Terry said an assault against a child was \u201cinherently serious\u201d and that aggravating features in this case were that there were two assaults against two children in their home.<\/p>\n
The older child was hit hard and was left visibly distressed, she said.<\/p>\n
Terry said in opposing the application for a discharge that family violence<\/a> offending often had lifelong impacts and that should not be minimised.<\/p>\n She also said that while the woman had no criminal history, police did not accept that what happened was an isolated incident, according to the number of family violence call-outs.<\/p>\n The court heard the mother was at times the alleged victim documented in the reports.<\/p>\n \u201cWe accept parenting is difficult but the victims in this matter are two children,\u201d Terry said.<\/p>\n Toddler slapped <\/p>\n Both assaults happened on the morning of June 17 last year, when the mother was on the couch in the lounge of their home with her newborn baby.<\/p>\n According to the police summary of facts<\/a>, her toddler approached and \u201ckicked the new baby in the head\u201d.<\/p>\n The mother then shouted at the toddler and slapped the child in the face, causing the child to cry.<\/p>\n The older child became upset, so was sent to their room and began kicking the walls.<\/p>\n Police said the mother picked up her phone charger from the lounge floor, folded it in a loop, went into the room and hit the child on the leg.<\/p>\n The assault caused the child to shout and cry, police said.<\/p>\n Judge Carter said mitigating factors were \u201cnumerous\u201d, but he also noted relevant aggravating factors.<\/p>\n \u201cShe has no previous history and she had acknowledged she has done wrong, and has acknowledged the harm and distress caused to the children,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Remorse and regret <\/p>\n Judge Carter said the woman was entitled to some credit for her remorse and regret over what had occurred.<\/p>\n He said there were also ongoing Family Court<\/a> matters in the background, and the woman\u2019s eldest child presented extra challenges.<\/p>\n Judge Carter said the pre-sentence report assessed the woman as being at low risk of reoffending and had since taken steps to get support.<\/p>\n He said the defendant had suffered \u201cdire consequences\u201d from the offending which could be seen as punitive, in that she currently had only supervised access to her children.<\/p>\n In reaching his decision to grant the application for a discharge without conviction, Judge Carter said there could be compounding negative effects on the woman\u2019s mental health<\/a> from a conviction, the most significant being employment-related.<\/p>\n Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ\u2019s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.<\/p>\nThe police said an assault on a child was \u201cinherently serious\u201d. The aggravating features in this case were that there were two assaults against two children, one of whom was aged only 1. Photo \/ 123rf<\/p>\n