The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision over an appeal by a woman who admitted abducting a child.
Kay Skelton was charged after a six-year-old boy was abducted from a Hamilton library and taken into hiding in Northland in 2006.
Skelton was sentenced to nine months' home detention and 300 hours of community work in December last year.
Her lawyer told the Court of Appeal on Tuesday that she pleaded guilty to the charge because she did not believe she could receive a fair trial after extensive pre-trial media publicity about the case.
He asked the court to overturn the conviction and put a stay on the charge against Skelton.
However, lawyers for the Crown said there was a strong circumstantial case against Skelton and the trial judge could have instructed the jury in a way that overcame any prejudice based on pre-trial publicity.
