Mother jailed over death of seven-year-old son

A woman whose seven-year-old son was brutally murdered by his stepfather was today jailed for three years for failing to provide her son with the necessities of life.

Judge Phil Gittos told Mary Joachim, 28, in Auckland District Court the case was a tragedy for her more than anybody else.

"You were vulnerable to being oppressed by an abusive partner. Nevertheless, during the times when he was at work, when you weren't under his immediate control, your good sense should have asserted itself.

"Your sentence needs to serve as a deterrent to others. But your culpability needs to be seen in light of threats to you and the child, and in light of the long history of abuse being in this relationship," Judge Gittos said.

Joachim admitted the charge in November at the start of a depositions hearing in Nelson District Court.

Her son, Duwayne Toetu Taote Pailegutu, died on July 2, eight days after a vicious and sustained attack by his stepfather Johnny Joachim at the family's home in Stoke.

Crown prosecutor Kirsten Lummis told Auckland District Court today that culpability was an overriding factor.

"Her son was unable to move without assistance for a number of days. He's seven years old and was made to use nappies as he had difficulty getting to the toilet as he was in so much pain.

"She took time off to care for her son but she did not seek medical treatment. Alarm bells must have been ringing for some time.

"It would have been very apparent following the assault that he was critically ill. The extent of his multiple injuries meant that medical attention may not have guaranteed his recovery without disability, but it would have prevented his death," Ms Lummis said.

She added that Joachim was also aware that her husband Johnny Joachim was forcing her son to "exercise" by forcing him to move his limbs and pressing against his stomach to make him expel phlegm and blood from his chest and stomach.

"She deliberately kept her son from going to school, and misled the school about his whereabouts, given that he wouldn't have been able to return to school for some time because of the state he was in," Ms Lummis said.

Graeme Newell, defending Joachim, told the court that she had told a probation officer and the police that her husband had told her if she rang for an ambulance she would never see her son again.

"She did not ring the ambulance because she did not care or love her son, she omitted to act because she was afraid she would not see her son again.

Joachim had argued with her husband about seeking medical help.

"During one of these arguments he assaulted her in front of the victim, forced her down onto the bed next to where he was lying and told him to say goodbye to his mother as he would never see her again," Mr Newell said.

He added that Joachim had only known her husband for eight months before she married him.

"She entered an early guilty plea at her third court appearance. She has shown remorse and is of previous good character. There is also a low risk of her re-offending," Mr Newell said.

The maximum penalty for failing to provide the necessities of life is seven years imprisonment.

Johnny Joachim, 37, who was found guilty of murder, was jailed for life in October, with an 18-year non-parole period.

His sentencing hearing was told he had been angry with Duwayne for leaving a jumper at school and not showing respect to him. He inflicted upon him a beating that left the boy semi-conscious, partly paralysed and struggling to breathe.

Speaking outside court after the sentencing, Mr Newell told NZPA he would be seeking to appeal.

- NZPA