Identity of woman who murdered her own child revealed

A woman jailed for murdering her 18-month-old daughter can now be named after she abandoned her bid for continued name suppression.

Southern Thompson was sentenced in May for abusing, neglecting and bashing Comfort Jay Thompson-Pene to death in their Tirau home in July 2018.

She was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years on charges of murder, ill-treatment of a child, injuring with intent and failing to seek medical care.

"Your offending involved systematic abuse of a young child who was defenceless," Justice Graham Lang said in the High Court at Rotorua on May 13.

At no stage did Thompson seek any medical care for her child

Her lawyer filed a last-minute application for name suppression during the hearing.

The application was dismissed by Justice Lang, but that decision was immediately challenged, requiring suppression to remain in force until the appeal was heard.

Media challenged the suppression appeal.

Thompson gave formal notice yesterday to the Court of Appeal that she was abandoning her appeal, meaning suppression of her name lapsed. — Open Justice