The woman appeared at the High Court in Auckland (file picture). Photo: justice.govt.nz
An Auckland woman has pleaded guilty to manslaughter following the death of her four-week-old son.
The 23-year-old woman, who has name suppression, smiled as she stood in the dock at the High Court in Auckland on Wednesday, and entered guilty pleas to two charges of assault, against the newborn and another child, along with one charge of manslaughter.
Justice Mathew Downs allowed the woman to remain on bail until her sentencing on "compassionate grounds", which Justice Downs noted was not usually done for such serious crimes.
Those grounds were not discussed in court.
Justice Downs told the woman it was likely she would be imprisoned following her sentencing in July.
According to the agreed summary of facts supplied to RNZ, the young mum was the sole caregiver to the two children and had repeatedly begged her newborn's father to get the children as she was not coping by herself.
The summary of facts noted she would hit her two-year-old on a number of occasions for misbehaving, crying or being upset. After her younger son was born, friends noted they had seen her shake the newborn when he was crying.
In messages to the father of the younger boy, who she was no longer in a relationship with, she told him she was struggling and the kids were "screaming and crying" while she was having a panic attack.
"I'm asking for help with the kids and struggling mentally and you're not even there to support at all," one message read.
The father replied he was "on holiday" and "had a million plans already".
"Being a mum is f...ing hard. I'm not coping and I need you involved a lot more," she said, "I have no one to help."
In the weeks before her son's death she warned the father she was "about to show my anger with the kids crying".
"It's not going to be pretty if I let my anger out inside the apartment around or towards the kids. The constant crying and screaming never f...ing stops."
In messages sent the next day, she again noted the children were not safe with her when she was angry.
Six days before the newborn's death, the woman was on FaceTime with a friend when she was seen shaking her baby "with force", causing his head to jolt back.
"There's no reason to be crying, man, I'm f...ing sick of it," she said.
The summary of facts said on 14 January 2022, the woman became frustrated with her baby and "lost control", shaking him forcefully and causing severe brain injuries.
She called the father of the baby and asked him to bring Pamol over.
In the early hours of 15 January, it was noted the woman called Healthline but hung up before the call was answered, she called again at 7.18am and hung up a second time. She did not call emergency services.
She called the child's father and asked him for a ride to Starship Hospital but he refused and said he had to work.
She ended up leaving her house at 9.49am and took a bus to Starship, arriving just before 10.30am. By this point the infant was having "constant" seizures.
It was found he had bleeding around his brain and a bruise above his eyebrow along with a skull fracture. The baby died the next day.
A post-mortem showed the baby had a healing clavicle and rib fractures, which the summary of facts said were caused by the woman.
The summary of facts noted the woman told hospital staff her older son had been jumping on the bed and fell on his little brother's head, causing the injury, but later in a police statement, she said she often accidentally hit his head on door frames, walls and the sides of his cot.
She said she took the bus to hospital as she could not afford an ambulance or Uber.