18 Jun 2010

Woman gets five years for killing granddaughter

3:18 pm on 18 June 2010

A woman who admitted killing her granddaughter has been sentenced in the High Court at Whanganui to five years and nine months in prison.

Near the end of a trial for murder last month, Joanne Tahuri, 57, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter in February last year of Cherish Tahuri-Wright.

The three-year-old was admitted to Wellington Hospital with bleeding between her skull and brain, a tear inside her upper lip and a bruised jaw.

Tahuri told the police at the time that Cherish had fallen and had been hit by her cousin, also a toddler.

The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Sergeant Dave Clifford, says the sentence is a fair outcome.

Tahuri's admission that she killed her granddaughter will go a long way towards helping the child's parents deal with the tragedy, Sgt Clifford says.