Acclaimed social researcher and author Celia Lashlie has cancelled all speaking engagements to stay home with her family in Wellington after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Ms Lashlie, best known for her work helping at-risk adolescent boys, was the first female prison officer to work in a men's prison in New Zealand before becoming head of Christchurch Women's Prison.
She ended her 14 years in the prison service and was acting head of Specialist Education Services in Nelson when she raised a storm in 2001 as author of The Journey to Prison, a stark tale of a 5-year-old boy she contended was already on the path to incarceration.
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That led to her dismissal from the agency for allegedly breaching client confidentiality with the book, only for her to be reinstated with support from then Children's Commissioner Roger McClay after admitting the boy was a composite character.
