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A woman who inflicted a near-fatal beating on her infant daughter, causing permanent brain damage, has been sentenced for a second time for the same incident – this time to time served.
Shana Tooman, who initially fled to Australia and had to be extradited, harmedthe child in July 2017. The now-33-year-old was initially sentenced four years ago this month to six years’ imprisonment after being found guilty by a jury in the High Court at Auckland of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to do so.
But last year, the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial after her lawyers argued that she had been unfit at the time of the original hearing to stand trial. The decision had been suppressed until recently to protect Tooman’s fair trial rights had she decided to take the case before a second jury.
Shana Tooman has been jailed a second time for a near-fatal assault on her baby daughter.
Instead of going to trial a second time, Tooman pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of causing grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard. This time she was sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment, but with a caveat.
“I note that you have already served almost four years’ imprisonment so you have served your time for this charge,” Justice Kiri Tahana said.
The sentencing took place one week ago but Justice Tahana’s sentencing notes were released to the media today.
Tooman’s baby was technically 6 months old but, having been born three months premature, was the size of a 10-week-old when the defendant attacked her inside their home. Tahana read aloud a disturbingly extensive list of injuries that resulted from the “extreme violence”: multiple skull fractures, bleeding between the skull and brain, severe brain damage caused by loss of oxygen and blood supply, extensive bleeding to the nerve layer behind the eyes, damage to the ligaments at the back of the neck and fractures to her hip and tibia.
“At the time, you said you heard the baby choking and found her unresponsive,” Tahana noted. “Some months later, you said you tripped and fell while holding the baby and that the baby’s head hit a concrete step.”
But a medical expert said the explanations were implausible, the judge continued, explaining that the expert found “the most likely cause was that your baby was gripped by one or both legs, and swung such that her head impacted with a thinly padded surface, or a surface with a little bit of give in it”.
The child’s adoptive mother, who took her in at 7 months old, wept last week as she gave an update on the now-7-year-old’s health. She recounted a long list of setbacks – cognitive, emotional and physical – the victim still suffers despite extensive efforts at rehabilitation.
“I can’t think of a worse crime than this,” the mother said, pointing out that the child was defenceless and weighing less than 4kg at the time she was attacked. “The doctors turned off life support more than once because her injuries weren’t deemed survivable.”
She expressed a wish that it could be her daughter being sentenced because then there would be an end date to her suffering rather than a lifetime struggle.
“She has never known abuse since the day she left you,” the adoptive mother said. “She’s loved unconditionally ...
“It’s so infuriating to me that [the child] didn’t have to be this way. She wasn’t born with brain damage.”
The adoptive mother lamented that she’s tried so hard to fix her daughter but said she had “failed”.
“The damage is too great,” she said, explaining that the child is expected to need 24-hour care for the rest of her life. “I will keep trying to fix what you broke for the rest of my life.”
Defence lawyer Scott Brickell said his client had grown up in Australia from a young age and was still suffering the stress from a recent overseas move when the attack occurred. She understood that she “really needed” to hear the devastating victim impact statements from the child’s adoptive mother and birth father, he said.
“She’s struggled to live with the terrible injuries that [the victim] has suffered,” he said. “She won’t ever be free of that guilt.”
Shana Tooman grew up in Australia and had recently moved to New Zealand before her offending.
Tooman has resided at the Grace Foundation – a residential rehabilitation facility – since her release on bail last year to await her new trial.
She’s been assessed as a low risk of re-offending, the defence lawyer noted, explaining that his client is now better able to regulate her emotions. For example, he said, she was in court for the sentencing whereas she was unwilling to attend her own sentencing in 2020.
Justice Tahana acknowledged the seriousness of the crime but noted Tooman did not have a history of violence – with no previous convictions in New Zealand and only minor convictions in Australia.
While determining the end sentence, the judge applied 55% in reductions from the starting point – 25% for her guilty plea, 20% for her foetal alcohol spectrum disorder diagnosis and 10% for her other personal circumstances and previous good behaviour.
“... You recognised that you needed help and participated in counselling and other programmes,” the judge said. “These have helped you grow mentally and emotionally.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
