Caregiver jailed after toddler's death

A foster caregiver was jailed for 6 years yesterday for the manslaughter of a toddler who died at Auckland's Starship hospital nearly four years ago.

Melissa Sale, 14 months, had been in the care of Karen Alice Robinson at Paengaroa, in the Bay of Plenty, when she suffered brain injuries, which Robinson said were sustained when she fell from a portable cot.

Robinson, 35, was found guilty of manslaughter in August after a trial in Rotorua and was sentenced yesterday by Justice Lynley Stevens in the High Court at New Plymouth.