Manuel was visibly upset during sentencing on a charge she had earlier admitted of arson in circumstances where it endangered lives. The charge carried a maximum prison term of 14 years.
Manuel, who was nearing the end of a community detention sentence when the offending happened last September, was sentenced to two years in prison.
At the time she lived in a modest, single-level unit in central Blenheim, which was attached to another unit.
The police summary of facts said that on the evening of September 24 last year, the 42-year-old was seen outside lighting a fire, before heading indoors and setting fire to a mattress.
A neighbour noticed the smoke, went inside Manuel’s house and put out the mattress fire before extinguishing the fire outside.
Manuel then locked herself in the house and set fire to a bedroom, before collapsing from the smoke.
The neighbour tried to kick the door open in an attempt to rescue Manuel, before smashing a window to get inside.
By the time fire and emergency services arrived, Manuel was unconscious and the flames were just centimetres from her.
She later told police she had been trying to take her own life.
Defence lawyer Chris Macklin said Manuel had wanted to express her remorse for what had happened, not only for the position she had found herself in, but for the harm she had exposed others to.
Judge Jo Rielly noted that Manuel had been held in custody since her arrest last year, just weeks before the end of a community detention sentence for earlier offending.
Stuff reported in January 2023 that Manuel had tried to break into an Oranga Tamariki office, telling police she “wanted to kill someone”.
She was sentenced to 100 hours’ community work and six months’ supervision.
Later that year she turned up drunk at a police station. It was reported that she was looking for her children but was arrested after smashing a phone box in a “fit of rage”.
Judge Jo Rielly set a prison starting point of three and a half years, which was reduced to two years after discounts were applied for Manuel’s early guilty plea, plus the contents of a series of detailed reports, including a psychiatrist’s report.
Judge Rielly said there was consistency across the reports that pointed to personal circumstances being a driver of Manuel’s actions.
The psychiatrist found that Manuel had a personality dysfunction that meant she had problems regulating her emotions, lacked ability to calm herself and that feelings of negativity overwhelmed her.
Alcohol worsened those difficulties, Judge Rielly said.
However, Manuel had used the time in custody already to focus on how she needed to be sober, to prevent herself from coming back to court, to feel good about herself and to foster a better relationship with her children.
Manuel was granted leave to apply for home detention when a suitable address became available.
Judge Rielly said reparation was not sought but it was possible that might be pursued via another channel.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
