Grandma who killed husband, stabbed daughter-in-law allowed to stay in NZ

A 62-year-old Chinese woman who violently attacked her family has been allowed to stay in New Zealand. Photo/NZME

A 62-year-old grandmother who killed her husband and tried to murder her daughter-in-law has been allowed to stay in the country on exceptional humanitarian grounds.

In a decision just released by the Immigration and Protection Tribunal Guan Zhi Yu's appeal to fight deportation to China has been allowed; provided she does not commit another violent crime within the next five years.

The tribunal has found there are exceptional circumstances of a humanitarian nature and
that those circumstances made it unjust or unduly harsh for Yu to be deported from New Zealand.

The tribunal said Yu had come to New Zealand from China with her husband in 2012 to live with her son and his small family but due to family stress, compounded by her deteriorating mental health, attacked her daughter-in-law and husband with a knife. Her husband died.

Yu was found guilty of both charges and sentenced her to five years, five months jail.

She was remanded to the secure psychiatric Hillmorton Hospital where she is still detained as a special patient under the Mental Health Act.

In her appeal Yu said at the time of the stabbing she was battling depression. She had not brought enough medication to New Zealand and did not seek medical help or engage with local mental health services.

She was also expected to cook for the family, help in the business, as well as look after two young grandchildren including a sick baby who was not sleeping and suddenly weaned when her mother returned to China.

The tribunal heard as the stress of looking after her family increased, her mental health deteriorated and she lost 15kg in a matter of weeks.

Yu said she had no memory of the day her husband died but hoped to remain in New Zealand with her son and grandson.

Her son, Wei Gao, said when his wife returned to China for seven weeks his mother was expected to look after two young children, which exhausted her and caused her to become unwell.

A friend had warned him his mother needed medical help and he regrets not paying enough attention at the time.

Gao's marriage had since ended and his wife and daughter now lived in China.

He had shifted to Christchurch to be closer to his mother and wanted his mother to stay in New Zealand so that he could look after her.

He said he hoped after she completed her sentence she could live with him and help care for his son.

Dr Erik Monasterio, who oversaw Yu's treatment at Hillmorton Hospital, said she had suffered a history of mood and anxiety difficulties throughout her life. Her dissociative disorder still posed a serious risk of offending when unwell.

Under the Mental Health Act it was expected Yu would remain under the care of mental health teams for a prolonged period.

If she were to remain here, it would mean she would continue to receive intensive oversight on a compulsory basis after her sentence ended.

Monasterio said he could not remove the risk of Yu offending again, in his view the risk was significantly reduced.

She was willing to engage in a treatment plant and understood the risk inherent in becoming unwell.

He said when it became time to release her from Hillmorton Hospital, she would not be released to the care of her son but into supported accommodation where she would be subject to 24-hour supervision and access to staff.