Drowned baby mum's jail term cut

File photo / APN

A woman who was found guilty of manslaughter after leaving her baby son unattended in a bath has had her sentence reduced by the Court of Appeal.

The 29-year-old migrant, who has name suppression, left her 13-month-old baby boy in the bath for about 15 minutes while she made her daughter breakfast and was found guilty of manslaughter at the High Court at Auckland in August.

She was originally charged with murder, with the Crown arguing she deliberately left her baby to die, but after five hours of deliberations the jury found her guilty lesser charge.

The woman was jailed for two years and 10 months but the Court of Appeal reduced this to 15 months saying the judge who presided over her sentencing had mistakenly calculated her jail term.

The court said the judge should have made larger reductions to her sentence based on the woman's remorse, good character, her original offer to plead guilty to manslaughter and an allowance for her mental disorder.

During the trial, the court was told of her dysfunctional relationship with her husband, who was convicted of assaulting her, and of her children subsequently being put into Child, Youth and Family care, during which time her five-year-old daughter was sexually abused by an older boy.

The baby died two days after the children went back to live with their parents, after staying in a CYF foster home for about seven months.

The woman's state-of-mind at the time of the baby's death was key to the defence case.

- NZPA