Woman jailed for letter forging attempt

A woman who forged a letter asking for a charge of burglary against her be dropped has been sentenced to two years in jail.

Tracey Rawiri, 40, was sentenced in Hamilton District Court yesterday after earlier being found guilty of wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice, burglary and theft of a vehicle, the Waikato Times reported.

Rawiri stole $10,000 worth of property from a Hamilton home while the complainant was out on June 1, 2008, the court was told.

Later that month she was arrested and granted bail after driving a stolen car from Te Puke, near Tauranga, to South Auckland. While on bail, Rawiri contacted the Hamilton complainant and asked him to withdraw the burglary charge against her.

She later admitted writing a letter in the complainant's name, stating she had been given permission to remove the property. The letter also asked for the charge to be dropped.

Judge Phillip Connell said Rawiri's actions were serious and represented an attack on the integrity of the justice system.

- NZPA