Home detention for bribery attempt
A Christchurch mother-of-four has been put on 11 months home detention for an attempt at bribery related to her husband’s trial for sex offending.
Silulu Lagi Pesefea, 35, had halted her Christchurch District Court jury trial with a guilty plea on the second day to a charge of wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The trial involved an allegation that she had telephoned another woman and offered her money to get the woman’s teenage daughter to drop a sexual assault complaint against Pesefea’s husband.
At his trial, the husband was found guilty on a charge of attempted rape, and has been jailed.
Defence counsel Andrew McCormick said Pesefea’s actions had been the result of her being in a very stressful situation because of the predicament of her husband. She had expressed some remorse and it was acknowledged that her behaviour was “not legally acceptable in New Zealand”.
Judge Paul Kellar said Pesefea’s offer had been immediately rejected by the other woman and it had no effect on the trial. A sentence of imprisonment was not necessary in her case, but he would impose nearly the maximum term of home detention – 11 months.
Category: Focus
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