Courtney Paige Findlater, 25, appeared before the Dunedin District Court yesterday on a string of dishonesty offences, which Judge Hermann Retzlaff said formed a pattern of behaviour over recent years.
On May 1, the defendant asked an associate to write a letter on his computer.
The document, purporting to be from an Oranga Tamariki social worker, falsely stated Findlater had day-to-day care of her son.
She then passed on the fake document to her lawyer at court the following day, which was in turn provided to the judge and Corrections staff who were preparing a report about her.
However, when Probation contacted the named social worker to confirm the contents of the letter, it became clear it was fraudulent.
She said she did not know what she hoped to achieve, though it is common for the court to treat offenders more leniently when they have the sole care of a child.
As well as accruing the conviction for attempt to use a forged document, she also pleaded guilty to two counts of receiving and a burglary.
The court heard there were two break-ins at Broad Bay School almost three years apart, in 2021 and 2024.
A $3000 computer was taken during the first burglary and Findlater was captured on CCTV dropping it on the pavement outside a community hub in Corstorphine shortly afterwards.
During the latter incident, a variety of power tools were stolen from the school, along with several paddle boards.
Findlater sold a leaf-blower to Cash Converters and when police later searched her home they found some of the sporting equipment, court documents said.
In April, the defendant and a couple of associates went to the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club where they accessed an unlocked shipping container and made off with three paddle boards, worth more than $1500.
Findlater almost immediately listed them for sale on Facebook and police found them in her laundry.
Judge Retzlaff noted she had similar convictions over the past six years, but accepted she had cognitive difficulties, which had been exacerbated by a head injury sustained during her teens.
Findlater was sentenced to eight months’ home detention and ordered to pay $630 reparation.
