A child was given a fizzy drink, which led to a family dispute. Photo / Stock Image 123rf
A child was given a fizzy drink, which led to a family dispute. Photo / Stock Image 123rf
A former nurse has avoided two convictions and having her name publicised after she appeared in court for biting her grandchildren's father in an incident sparked by a soft drink.
On Monday, Judge Tony Greig granted the Taranaki woman's application for a discharge without conviction on charges of assault in a family relationship and careless driving.
Police did not oppose the application at the hearing in New Plymouth District Court.
The woman had not previously had interim name suppression, however defence lawyer Susan Hurley made a last-minute application for permanent suppression which police also did not oppose.
Though, Judge Greig acknowledged the law did not allow for name suppression to be automatically applied in such a case.
Automatic name suppression is statutory in some instances, such as for offenders appearing in the Youth Court, sexual assault victims, and children who are complainants or witnesses in criminal proceedings.
A former nurse appeared in New Plymouth District Court on Monday for biting a man. Photo / Tara Shaskey
In any other case, defendants seeking name suppression, whether convicted or not, have to satisfy a threshold test and then convince the judge why the presumption of open justice should not apply.
Under the Criminal Procedure Act 2011, the order could be granted on a number of grounds, including if the publishing of a person's name is likely to cause them "extreme hardship".
The charges which led to the woman's court appearance stemmed from a visit she was supervising between her grandchildren and their father on Christmas Day in 2020.
The visit turned sour when the paternal family gave one of the children a drink of Coke, which the woman opposed.
When she was ignored, she cut the visit short.
Judge Greig said the woman had believed that giving the child the fizzy drink would be "really unhelpful".
As the woman was trying to leave with the children, the paternal family were "intimidating her" and trying to remove the children from the car.
"[She] was trying to prevent that. She was put under so much pressure that she crashed her car," Judge Greig said.
The woman claimed the father had grabbed one of the children by the neck in an attempt to get them out of the vehicle.
Judge Greig said the woman had used her body to stop this from happening and bit the father's arm in the process.
"And she's quite right to protect the child and remove the arm," he said, before later saying he sympathised with the woman in regards to the incident.
The woman, who has not previously appeared in criminal court, initially pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Judge Greig said he could understand why she denied the charges and that in his view she may have had a defence.
However, she eventually pleaded guilty and applied for a discharge without conviction.
When considering the application, Judge Greig said the woman was a "very well-qualified nurse" who had not been in practice for a while and was wanting to re-register.
Judge Greig ruled that a conviction would affect her re-registration and thus her livelihood, granting her the application as the consequences of a conviction would "significantly" outweigh the seriousness of the offending.
He further granted name suppression, stating that in his view it would cause her undue hardship if her name was published.
"I'm sorry you've been put through all this trouble," he told the woman as she left the dock sobbing.
