Woman jailed over baby son's drowning

File photo / APN

A mother who killed her 13-month-old baby by leaving him unattended in a bath for 15 minutes has been jailed for two years and 10 months for his manslaughter.

The 29-year-old woman was granted permanent name suppression when she appeared before Justice Tim Brewer in the High Court at Auckland today for sentencing a month after a jury found her not guilty of murder but guilty of the child's manslaughter.

Justice Brewer told the woman it was a sad day because it was an acknowledgement of the death of an innocent child through the criminal neglect of his mother.

The woman left her son in the bath with water up to his chest and went to make breakfast for her five-year-old daughter.

When she came back 15 minutes later he was lying face down, his lips were blue and she decided he was dead.

She did not try to resuscitate him or call 111 and waited for her husband to come home.

The judge said he disagreed with the woman's lawyer, John Anderson, who told the court she was an exemplary mother who closed the bathroom door to prevent drafts and left her son with toys.

The child was utterly unable to care for himself and utterly dependent on his mother.

"It was your duty to take care of him," Justice Brewer said

"Your actions were at the higher end of criminal neglect."

The judge said he accepted she did not intend to kill or harm her son when she left him to make breakfast for her daughter.

He said the starting point was four years in prison but she would get a six-month discount because of her exceptional character, a further six months because of the state of depressive disorder she was in when her son died and another two months for an offer to plead guilty to manslaughter the day before the trial.

Her offer of a guilty plea to manslaughter was a sign she was accepting responsibility and she had shown sorrow and a deep sense of remorse.

Justice Brewer said that when her son died, he had no doubt she was going through a major depressive episode which would have made it much more difficult to function.

He believed in an open form of justice but the permanent name suppression order was made to protect "the innocent and vulnerable"; the woman's daughter had been sexually abused while she was in Child Youth and Family care.

During the sentencing remarks the woman leaned forward and listened intently to the judge's comments but showed little emotion when he ordered her to stand down after sending her to jail.

Mr Anderson had earlier submitted she should be convicted and discharged or face a sentence of supervision.

- NZPA