Pauline Timu has pleaded guilty to manslaughter over the death of eight-year-old Rickah’Shae Keefe-Haerewa, admitting she failed to provide him with necessaries and protect him from injury while he was in her legal care.
On 15 November 2024 after the child had allegedly been seriously assaulted by another person, Timu placed him in her car but stopped for several minutes to make phone calls warning a household member about possible police attendance rather than seeking emergency assistance.
When she arrived at Whakatāne Hospital, he was found unresponsive and could not be revived; the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the abdomen, with additional historic injuries consistent with non-accidental assault.
Timu admitted previously slapping him, striking him with objects, whipping him with a cord, withholding food, shaving his head as punishment, keeping him from school without justification, and filming assaults to humiliate him. Over three years in her custody he was frequently seen with injuries. She also pleaded guilty to further violence and ill-treatment charges involving other children dating back to 2013, including assaults causing bruising and bleeding and the use of belts and wooden implements. In total she admitted 12 charges, with sentencing scheduled in the High Court at Hamilton in May after the Crown sought to consolidate all matters.
I trust DTNZ will follow up the sentencing of this monster.
Three years, out in 18 months for cultural reasons…
Just when you think you have seen and heard it all with these people, up comes yet more extremes of sadistic brutality. A child dying in the back seat of the car while his guardian made phone calls – seemingly to warn or set up an excuse to give to the police. Animals have more feelings for their own than this creature. The poor child had been ill treated since birth, certainly he had injuries which were, as they put it so nicely, historic. Who put him in her care?
It beggars belief that a woman who had ill treated children in her care previously should be given care of more. She is a true blue sadist who enjoys hurting those who cannot hurt her back, a woman who has no control over her temper, and who probably has some serious psychopathies. There is no cure and no possibility of rehabilitation for such as this. She will just wander around for years causing more pain and misery to children. All child beaters are like that. Low intelligence bullies who like hurting little ones because it makes them feel good. How long, I wonder, before the next one appears in the news? Because there will be more, you can bet the farm on it. The murder of the Kahui twins opened the door to this behaviour.
For all the misery, pain and harm this sick woman has caused and now including the agony of a poor child beaten to death, she and the perpetrator of the beating should get the death penalty. It would only have to be used a couple of times to send a message and be sure this evil and murderous behaviour would stop.