KEY POINTS:
A 21-year-old student who gave birth to a baby in a toilet in a Dunedin student hostel last year pleaded guilty to a charge of infanticide when she appeared in the Dunedin High Court yesterday.
In an unusual move, Justice Graham Pankhurst, did not enter a conviction and
adjourned the case until the Pacific Island student completed her exams in November.
If convicted earlier the New Zealand development scholarship recipient would lose her scholarship and be forced to return to her home country immediately without completing her studies, which would not be in the public's interest, he said.
The woman has been granted continued interim name suppression for at least the next 10 working days while a psychologist is consulted.
The student gave birth to a 3.3kg baby girl in a toilet at Studholme Hall on May 20, 2006.
She had not told anyone she was pregnant because she did not want to lose her scholarship and was ashamed to be unwed and pregnant, the Dunedin District Court was told last year.
She realised she was in labour when she awoke in pain early on May 20 and it was only when her stomach really hurt that she knew the baby was coming, the court heard.
She heard a splash when the baby was born into the toilet and she began fainting.
The student did not rescue the infant because her sister was there and she did not want her to know about the birth, the court heard.
She returned alone to the bathroom later to clean up. She placed the apparently dead baby and the placenta into a plastic bag which she threw out a window into the garden below before collapsing in the hallway.
She was taken to hospital during the afternoon. There, she denied having had a baby, maintaining she was having a heavy period. After tests confirmed she had been pregnant, she admitted giving birth and said she had flushed the baby down the toilet.
The accused pleaded guilty to a charge of committing manslaughter by failing to supply the child with the necessaries of life late last year, but that count was discharged by Justice Pankhurst yesterday.
He accepted the basis for a change to an infanticide charge was evidence from consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Philip Brinded, who said it was reasonable to conclude that the woman's mind was disturbed by the psychological trauma of the birth.
She had suffered subsequent severe blood loss so she could not be held fully responsible, therefore fitting the criteria for infanticide, he said.
Defence counsel John Westgate proposed the court consider the accused's future - that any conviction would put her study in jeopardy. Crown counsel Craig Power said the Crown was not opposed to the suggestion.
Justice Pankhurst said it was an unusual request, but it was "apparent this is an unusual and tragic case".
"I am in no doubt it is appropriate this young woman has the opportunity to complete her course of study."
No conviction was entered and the hearing was adjourned to November 9.