Timaru woman Jaydean Temperley sentenced to home detention for lying about strawberry needle

Jaydean Temperley pleaded guilty to charges of making a false complaint and causing loss by deception. Photo / Rachel Das

A woman who lied about finding a needle in a strawberry will spend five months on home detention.

Jaydean Temperley, 29, has been sentenced in the Timaru District Court this morning, after previously pleading guilty to charges of making a false complaint and causing loss by deception.

Judge Joanna Mays says putting the needle in the strawberry didn't just financially affect strawberry growers and the supermarket – it undermined public confidence in the food supply.

Defence counsel, Kelly Beazley, says Temperley regrets her offending – classing it as stupid.

The false accusation cost Pak 'n' Save Timaru almost $3600 in losses after they destroyed more than two thousand punnets of strawberries due to the complaint.

Jaydean Temperly put the strawberries in her fridge before inserting a needle in a piece of fruit and posting it on her Facebook. Photo / NZME

A court heard earlier this year how Temperley went to Pak'nSave last December and bought two punnets of strawberries.

She put them in her fridge at home before inserting a needle in a strawberry and posting on her Facebook page asking if anyone could see it.

People encouraged her to go to police as well as the supermarket, the court heard.

She received a refund and a $20 Pak'nSave voucher.

In an initial written statement to police, she outlined purchases that morning and said she found the needle when cutting them up.

Temperley initially denied putting the needle in there herself, claiming a friend did it, but later changed her story.

It came after a string of disturbing incidents involving needles in fruit, including a needle found inside a strawberry in a punnet purchased at FreshChoice supermarket in Geraldine – also in South Canterbury - on November 24 last year.