A widow broke down as she told a court that her first holiday without her husband of 40 years was ruined by an internet scam.
Jamie Main could not finish her victim impact statement at the Auckland District Court yesterday and had to take her seat in the public gallery while the Crown Prosecutor finished it for her.
"I will always have the sadness of remembering my first planned holiday away to recover from the grief of losing my life partner of 40 years which was altered due to someone else's callous greed," the woman said.
Anita Lee Cranston was sentenced to 11 months' home detention for "fragmenting the dreams" of Mrs Main and 18 others who had handed over money to rent a luxury Fiji holiday home.
Anniversaries, birthdays and family weddings were among the holidays ruined by Cranston who continued to take $61,000 in deposits for the home despite knowing that it was the subject of two separate court proceedings. Another victim, Leonie Wallace, told the court that her family were looking forward to her brother's wedding in Fiji - a year after her mother was brutally murdered.