A teen jailed for her part in the violent home invasion of a 90-year-old Levin woman, who died weeks later of a brain injury, now claims she was not the one who inflicted the fatal blows.
Grace Virtue died 25 days after the invasion of her property in Horowhenua where she lived alone, in November 2019.
The teenage girl, 17, was jailed for two-and-a-half years for Virtue's manslaughter.
Aged 15 at the time she and two other girls, aged 14 and 15, admitted charges of manslaughter after facing trial for murder. Their names are suppressed.
At their sentencing in March, the court was told that the teen sent to jail attacked Virtue, while another watched. The third was outside.
The other two girls were sentenced to home detention.
The jailed teen was declined parole earlier this year after serving a third of her sentence and again after a hearing earlier in December.
A copy of the Parole Board's report, released to RNZ, said the teen no longer accepted she was the principal offender.
"[The teen] told the board, as she has told her treating psychologist, that she was not in fact the person who had inflicted significant violence," the report said.
"It is a matter of concern to the board that [the teen] was apparently pressured, and possibly intimidated by violence, to accept principal responsibility for the offending and to accept a substantial term of imprisonment while her co-offenders, and in particular the person primarily responsible for violence to the victim, remained in the community."
The teen, however, understood the board must deal with her on the basis of her plea and the following convictions.
Virtue's daughter-in-law Jenny Virtue said the family was sceptical of the teen's claims and did not believe she was telling the truth.
"They didn't say anything about it in court and they pleaded guilty to it."
Jenny Virtue said her family feared the teen would offend again.
Information before the board showed the teen was assessed as being a moderate risk of further offending, "most likely to be violent offending against a vulnerable victim".
The teens who invaded Virtue's home took her debit card and used it to buy lollipops, clothes, cigarettes and soft drinks.
They knew she was elderly and lived alone, and the jailed teen gained entry by pretending she needed the bathroom.
Inside, the teen punched Virtue, knocking her to the ground. When unconscious and lying on the floor, the teen kicked her, according to the court summary of the offending.
The teen was said to be doing well in the justice residence where she's imprisoned, although there were "some incidents of conflict".
Treatment to help reduce the teen's risk of further violence offending began in October, and the teen was said to be motivated and willing to get involved.
Some of the information before the board can't be reported because of court suppression orders.
The teen's lawyer, Gareth Stone, advocated for her release, but the board ruled she posed an undue risk to the community and further treatment was necessary.
"It is clear that there are multiple support agencies available to her and yet there is not before the board any comprehensive, coordinated plan for her ongoing rehabilitation or reintegration," the board said.
"It is, however, clear that [the teen] is seriously motivated to address her numerous personal issues and has made a very positive start on that work.
"[She] spoke well to the board."
The board said the teen would know she had to show the board next time how she was applying the skills she'd learned and that she had enough self-control to avoid further incidents.
Her next parole hearing is in April.
Virtue, a nurse, moved to Levin from Gisborne in 2009 to be closer to a relative needing care.
RNZ
