Rest home abuser guilty of assault

Photo / Brett Phibbs

The woman who placed medical tape over the mouth of a rest home resident has been found guilty of assault.

Mafoufoga Misiagi, who can be named for the first time, was sentenced to 75 hours community service this morning in the Auckland District Court.

Belhaven Rest Home was closed by the Health Ministry in July last year and its funding contract was cancelled by the Auckland District Health Board as a result of the incident.

Judge Allison Sinclair said there was no malice on Misiagi's part when she used tape to gag one of the residents but the 61 year-old did not have consent.

The victim, who has name suppression, is deaf and mute and suffers from mental illness. Her name, and the names of witnesses, have been suppressed. The victim has been referred to as Ms A.

All details of the hearing in April were suppressed until today by Judge Sinclair.

In April, several witnesses gave evidence that Ms A had used tape on her own mouth but Misiagi was also seen using tape on Ms A.

One nurse told the court in April that she saw Misiagi put tape on Ms A's mouth after Ms A had been noisy.

The nurse said Misiagi told her: "Next time she makes a noise, this here is what you do".

The maintenance man who sparked the police investigation after visiting the rest home and finding Ms A with tape over her mouth also gave evidence in April. He said Misiagi told him: "She talked too much, so I shut her up".

He took a photograph of Ms A on his phone and showed it to a Winz officer at his next job.

Judge Sinclair said today that although Ms A had used tape on herself in the past, that did not give Misiagi the right to put tape on the mouth of Ms A.

"I accept this is a tragic situation for you and Ms A, as for others at the resthome. Your conduct was not motivated by malice," Judge Sinclair said.

"Such conduct can never be condoned in this society," Judge Sinclair said.

Misiagi's lawyer, Geoff Wells, said his client was the mother of seven children and had started as a cook at the resthome while also holding down another job to feed her children after her husband died.

He said the case had caused "a great deal of distress" to Misiagi.

"She's very sorry, Your Honour," Mr Wells said.

He said the practice of using tape to stop elderly rest home residents from making noise was "a little more common" but he said he did not have evidence of that.

He said Misiagi feared being portrayed as "some monster who tapes up the elderly in rest homes".

A victim impact statement from the family of Ms A was shown to Mr Wells but was not read in court.

"They may have suffered from not having a more balanced picture of what happened," Mr Wells said.