7 year sentence for mother who failed to protect Tangaroa Matiu

While Tangaroa Matiu was being beaten to death with a piece of wood, his mother was cleaning blood from a toilet wall, sprayed there during an earlier beating.

As the 3-year-old lay dying in his bed, she checked on him just three times. When she finally summoned medical help, it was far too late to save him.

Yesterday, Hoana Rose Matiu stood in the dock without the slightest flicker of emotion as she was sentenced to jail for seven years for manslaughter and cruelty to a child.

Justice Rod Hansen told her she had provided many necessities of life for her son, but denied him the essentials.

She did nothing to break the cycle of abuse that began when, as a child, she herself was subjected to sexual and physical abuse. This year, as her own child was pummelled to death, Matiu did nothing to stop it.

Her partner, Genesis Mahanga, was last month sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering the little boy.

In the High Court at Auckland, Justice Hansen told Matiu she had breached her "special duty of a parent to protect your child."

"There is no doubt you could have obtained medical assistance. If you had done your legal duty, your duty as a parent to get medical assistance, Tangaroa could have been saved. You did nothing."

Justice Hansen said there was no doubt that if Matiu had not become involved with Mahanga, Tangaroa would still be alive.

But not only did she fail to protect her child from Mahanga, she shielded the "controlling, dominant and violent" man from the authorities by not seeking medical attention for Tangaroa.

The judge said Matiu had already "told police lies to protect him" when a police officer had seen Tangaroa with his face rubbed raw and covered in weeping sores.

During her trial she had told the court she did not let Tangaroa see a doctor because "I felt scared. If this was seen by a doctor, I'd be letting Genesis down."

Justice Hansen said he could not begin to imagine what influences had made Mahanga into such a "monster."

"But he was indeed a monster, and your inability to stand up to him led to your son's death."

He said Tangaroa must have lived in abject terror and was "without the support of the very person whom he should have been able to rely on."

"The torment that Tangaroa suffered over a lengthy period of time no doubt made his life an utterly miserable existence in his last few months," the judge said.

"Society will not tolerate abuse of its children."

In sentencing Matiu, Justice Hansen said she was already serving a sentence far greater than he could impose.

"You will live the rest of your life knowing that you could have saved your son. That is a terrible burden."

He accepted that Matiu felt remorse for what had happened, and read from her pre-sentence report her statement: "I blame myself everyday."

He sentenced Matiu to seven years on two counts of manslaughter, and 18 months on two charges of cruelty to a child. The sentences are concurrent.

Herald Online feature: violence at home

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