Updated: 6:10am – A mother took her daughter to the doctors and emergency departments over 80 times before doctors blew the whistle and police were called in.
She also filmed the abuse, a court was told yesterday.
The woman, who has name suppression, had earlier been found guilty of neglect and ill-treating her children and was sentenced at the High Court in Auckland.
Authorities uncovered a history of false reporting by the mother that resulted in her subjecting her daughter to invasive medical tests and being put on dangerous medication.
They also discovered she had suffocated her nine-month-old son, before calling an ambulance to complain he had breathing difficulties.
Today the mother of two was jailed for more than seven years. After sentencing today at the High Court in Auckland, the woman’s lawyer said she is considering appealing her conviction and sentence.
Ministry of Health chief medical officer Dr Andrew Simpson said the case reinforced the importance of clinicians asking more questions in cases where patients present more often.
The mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her children, began taking her daughter to the doctors, complaining she was suffering fevers and later seizures.
Justice Peters said the child was put on strong medication and subjected to invasive medical procedures, including blood tests, MRI scans, and lumbar punctures.
She also spent nights in hospital.
“Dr Kelly’s evidence was that these numerous presentations and procedures to which A was subjected, ran the risk of institutionalising A and of engendering within her a sense that she was unwell, when she was not.”
The mother also overdosed her daughter on anti-seizure medication and filmed her daughter as she lost control of her arms and legs.
“As the Crown says, those videos were disturbing to watch because A was plainly distressed by her condition.”
Son suffocated twice
Another charge related to a specific overdose.
“The recording of the 111 call you made to summon an ambulance was played to the jury. You sounded cheerful and jovial, saying to the operator on several occasions that A was acting as if she was drunk. You did not sound panicked or anxious.”
She also suffocated her nine-month-old son on two occasions, filming him as he came to. The paramedics found him blue and admitted him to Starship.
“The doctors at Starship became suspicious of you after that because they were unable to find a cause for the event that B had undoubtedly suffered and nor did the event occur while he was at Starship. That led the medical personnel to conclude that the life-threatening event that B had suffered had been caused by something else, in fact, by you.”
Both children were put into the care of Oranga Tamariki.
But the mother’s offending didn’t stop there. During a supervised visit with her son, she fed him a button battery, which passed through his system but there was a real risk it could have become stuck and burned through – it was a matter of good fortune that he did not experience real harm.
Crown prosecutor Mark Harborow said the case was one of the most serious of its kind and noted the mother continued to deny the offences.
“What is different and perhaps unfortunate about this case, perhaps tragic, is that the help cannot begin in a meaningful way until Ms [withheld] … acknowledges it and begins on a long road … to rehabilitate her,” Mr Harborow said.
He asked for a much higher sentence, pointing out that in 2012, Parliament had increased the maximum jail term from five to 10 years.
The mother’s lawyer Sue Gray said the offending came from her client’s mental health disorder. She has only recently been diagnosed with factitious disorder, once referred to as Munchausen Syndrome by proxy.
“Clearly, her mental health issues are causative of this offending. She has no previous history.”
She said her client had already been assaulted in prison and was now in voluntary segregation.
In sentencing, Justice Peters said the mother was a good parent in many respects – her children were well-clothed, happy and cheerful.
The mother wept as the judge told her she would now miss out on her children’s early schooling.
“A vulnerable and defenceless child must be able to rely on their parent above anyone else to love and care for them. Your offending had the potential to occasion physical harm to A and I expect that she will suffer psychological harm as a result of her abrupt and unexplained separation from you.”
The judge took time off the woman’s sentence, to recognise her mental health issues.
“Thirty percent is appropriate and borders on the generous.”
The judge said any future conduct the mother has with her children will be decided by Oranga Tamariki and experts.
-RNZ
Featured image: Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly
