The prosecution of a mother who fell asleep while breastfeeding her baby and woke to find the child dead has been withdrawn.
She was acquitted and discharged at a hearing in the Whanganui District Court yesterday.
The woman went on trial, on the charge of failing to provide the necessities of life to a child under the age of 16, on Monday but the hearing was deemed a mistrial. The trial was to start over with the court attempting to empanel a jury on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. But it could not get the numbers, partly due to people not answering their jury summons.
At yesterday's hearing, Crown prosecutor Lance Rowe said it was no longer in the public interest to pursue the prosecution. The woman sobbed in the dock and Judge David Cameron acquitted and discharged her.
During Monday's trial the Crown alleged the woman did not provide a safe sleeping environment for her baby. She pleaded not guilty. In his opening address, Mr Rowe called the case "indescribably sad".
He said the woman had been drinking with friends before she lay down with her on the couch and began breastfeeding her. She fell asleep and woke at 9am to find her daughter "lifeless".
Mr Rowe said the baby's mouth and eyes were open. An ambulance was called, and the baby was found to be dead.
There were a number of factors for the jury to take into account including that the woman was co-sleeping with the baby on the couch, had been drinking, was tired and had smoked during her pregnancy putting her at greater risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy, Mr Rowe said.
"It's indescribably sad but sadness ought not to cloud our judgment."
Defence co-counsel Lucy Scott said the facts were "largely uncontested" but she questioned whether it was necessary to lay charges against the woman.
"Even though she knew the risks, does it mean that we need to intervene with the criminal law? She's lost her baby. That's enough."
Ms Scott asked whether the Crown was satisfied the woman has acted "so grossly negligent" that it needed to "label her a criminal". Mr Rowe said the decision to withdraw the prosecution was based on weighing up a number of factors including cost and the effect of the delay on the defendant and witnesses based on the Solicitor-General's prosecution guidelines. He said it was disappointing a jury could not be formed. "We just need juries to play their part. I just don't think the community is served well [when this happens]," he said.