A New Zealand court allows 17-year-old Jessica Mulford to appeal her manslaughter sentence for a 2-year-old's fatal injuries.

Jessica Mulford, then 17, has won permission to appeal her five-year, seven-month sentence for the 2022 manslaughter of 2-year-old Harlee-Rose Niven, after New Zealand’s Supreme Court agreed to review the Court of Appeal’s rejection of her appeal. The child died from severe abdominal injuries consistent with stomping, kicking, or punching, and had previously been strangled, causing facial bruising and neck injuries. Mulford, who struggled with parenting and resented caring for the child, falsely claimed the earlier injury was from a fall. Her legal team argued the sentence was too harsh, citing her youth, mental health, and background, and challenged the use of prior strangulation as an aggravating factor. The Supreme Court has now granted leave to appeal, focusing on whether the Court of Appeal correctly dismissed these claims, with a hearing to be scheduled.