The elderly guardian of a young student has been discharged without conviction in a court case over the girl's repeated truancy.
A judge in the Wellington District Court on Tuesday questioned whether the child's school had taken all of the woman's circumstances into account before deciding to prosecute her.
The charge related to 46 absences from 24 May to 18 August last year.
The school says it made repeated attempts to solve the problem, including involving a truancy officer and a social worker.
The girl eventually enrolled in another school.
On Monday, the woman pleaded guilty, but Judge Tom Broadmore discharged her without conviction, saying she had no previous convictions and an unblemished record after years fostering dozens of children.
The judge said she made consistent efforts to get the child to school and it was not easy to see how anyone in the position of a parent could have tried harder.
