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A 22-year-old Samoan student who gave birth in a Dunedin student hostel toilet and threw the dead newborn out the window in a plastic bag, yesterday had her sentence cancelled in the High Court at Dunedin.
Patricia Golovali Siaosi gave birth to a 3.3kg girl at Otago University's Studholme Hall on May 20, 2006. She had become pregnant after her first sexual encounter and was ashamed, according to evidence presented at her trial.
She was convicted in December by Justice John Hansen on a charge of infanticide and told she had suffered a tragedy which would always be with her.
She was sentenced to 130 hours community work and 12 months supervision. However, her lawyer applied to have the sentence cancelled eight days after it was imposed.
Siaoasi completed her degree and had a job lined up in Auckland but was unable to go when the Department of Labour cancelled her work visa because of her conviction, the Otago Daily Times reported.
She returned to Samoa as her study visa had expired.
Department of Corrections Dunedin area manager Lesley Campbell confirmed that because of the short time between the sentences being imposed and the application to have them cancelled, Siaosi had not carried out any of her supervision or community work.
She declined to comment on Justice Hansen's decision to cancel the sentence.
- NZPA
