Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Baby killer gets lighter jail sentence

By by Sharon Lundy
Bay of Plenty Times·
22 Sep, 2011 08:33 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A Western Bay of Plenty mother-of-five convicted of the manslaughter of a baby she was fostering has had a year wiped off her sentence.

Karen Alice Robinson was tried in the High Court at Rotorua for the murder of 14-month-old Melissa Sale in January 2006.

In 2009 a jury found her guilty of manslaughter, and she was sentenced to six years and six months' jail.

Robinson, of Paengaroa, appealed the sentence to the Court of Appeal, lawyer Michele Wilkinson-Smith arguing sentencing judge Justice Lynley Stevens had not given a sufficient discount for Robinson's mental health issues.

Justice Stevens had also failed to take into account the difficulties of prison for Robinson due to injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash, and Robinson had since accepted responsibility for Melissa's death, Ms Wilkinson-Smith said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Robinson was 35 and had five children of her own when she fatally assaulted Melissa in January 2006.

Melissa and her older sister had gone to live with Robinson and her husband, Brent, on a dairy farm in November 2005 - the final two of 18 children the couple had fostered in three years.

Melissa died in hospital when her life support was turned off on January 8, 2009, four days after being rushed by ambulance to Tauranga Hospital and then on to Starship Hospital in Auckland for surgery to remove a clot on her brain.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The trial was told Melissa died from severe subdural bleeding, a traumatic brain injury, caused by being shaken. But Robinson initially told emergency services on the phone that the injury occurred when Melissa fell over and banged her head.

She later told the attending St John Ambulance officer she had fallen from the portacot she slept in during the day.

However, medical experts testified that her injuries were not consistent with such a fall, and said Robinson had told a social worker and a police officer she had shaken the child.

The baby's injuries included bruised earlobes, a bruised forehead, bleeding behind an eye and abrasions on her cheek.

Justice Tony Randerson said in the Court of Appeal decision, released yesterday, that Justice Stevens had considered a psychiatric report at sentencing which showed Robinson had suffered "significant personality dysfunction and adjustment problems subsequent to the victim's death".

"Amongst other things, she was admitted to psychiatric hospitals on three occasions and suffered a motorcycle accident in 2006 which resulted in the amputation of her left leg below the knee.

"The judge recognised that the appellant would require support from the Regional Forensic Psychiatric Service while in prison."

However, Justice Stevens had to consider those factors against the level of violence involved in Melissa's death, the distress to the baby's family, the abuse of a position of trust given Melissa's young age and the fact she had been placed with Robinson for safekeeping.

"The judge did not consider there were any mitigating factors relating to the offending but took into account the appellant's previous good record and reputation in the community, some limited remorse and the mental health issues which she had suffered since the death of the child. He noted that the appellant continued to deny the offending."

But Justice Randerson said in his decision Justice Stevens should have allowed a greater discount for Robinson's mental health, disability and remorse than the combined 12 months that she did.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"[A psychiatrist's] report confirms that the appellant's mental state prior to the offending was stable and she was a fully functioning member of the community, raising her children, working on the farm and undertaking voluntary work. In marked contrast, her mental state deteriorated seriously after the child's death," Justice Randerson said.

"By any measure, the stress she suffered was severe, requiring several admissions to psychiatric hospitals and resulting in the loss of her leg in an accident which [the psychiatrist] considered was related to the psychiatric problems she was experiencing at the time.

"Her distressed state of mind is further evidenced by her contrasting responses to the child's death, ranging from anger towards those she considered to be at fault to heart-felt expressions of love for the child and regret over her death."

The Court of Appeal also considered her suffering in the nearly four years between Melissa's death and her sentencing "warranted a significantly greater discount than the judge allowed".

"The level and length of her distress to date is substantially more severe than is commonly encountered in similar situations," Justice Randerson said.

The additional difficulties Robinson would face in prison as a result of her amputation were not "disproportionately severe" but the fact the loss of the limb occurred as a result of her high levels of stress and anxiety after Melissa's death should have been considered in assessing the appropriate sentence.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Robinson had abandoned her appeal against conviction, which showed she had accepted the jury's verdict, he said.

"That is an important factor since it demonstrates she has accepted responsibility for her offending.

"We consider the appropriate discount for all relevant factors is two years overall. That would result in a final sentence of five years and six months' imprisonment."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:19 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

02 Jul 09:11 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Game-changer': Western BoP a step closer to Govt deal unlocking housing, jobs

02 Jul 09:05 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:19 PM

A severe thunderstorm watch is in place for the region tonight.

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

02 Jul 09:11 PM
'Game-changer': Western BoP a step closer to Govt deal unlocking housing, jobs

'Game-changer': Western BoP a step closer to Govt deal unlocking housing, jobs

02 Jul 09:05 PM
Tauranga's Young Grower to compete on national stage

Tauranga's Young Grower to compete on national stage

02 Jul 09:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP