A Wairarapa woman convicted of manslaughter has been allowed
to continue serving a community sentence despite being caught
with drugs and breaching curfew.
Wendy-May Connon, 40, crashed her car in January 2008 while
speeding and high on cannabis. Three unrestrained children
were in the car and one, her four-year-old son Konrad, was
thrown 30m from the vehicle and killed.
She was sentenced in July to six months' community detention,
two years' intensive supervision, 200 hours' community work
and was disqualified from driving for two years.
Shortly after her sentencing police found cannabis and
instruments for taking drugs in Connon's bedroom.
Then in October she was found breaching her night-time
curfew.
The Department of Corrections applied for her community
sentence to be cancelled as the address she was serving it at
was deemed unsuitable.
Connon proposed shifting to a new address at the Lower Hutt
home of a man with a history of drug use.
In the High Court at Wellington in December Connon was given
permission to live at the address on bail, her community
sentence being suspended, in order for her to prove to the
court it was a workable situation.
Today Justice Joseph Williams acknowledged there had been a
"welcome change" in Connon's behaviour and reports showed she
had begun her community work.
Justice Williams said he still had "a niggling concern" about
allowing her to live with a known drug user -- despite his
claims of being clean for two years.
He adjourned Corrections' application until the end of
Connon's community detention sentence, due to resume from
February 16, at which time any issues would be reviewed.
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