Details of how the five-year-old Napier girl died cannot be published.

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Thursday, 07 July 2011 08:54

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A man sent home without penalty on a disorderly behaviour charge last year was back in court months later for killing a five-year-old girl.

Kerry Charles Ratana was told by a judge in the Wanganui District Court last year to have a wonderful life.

On Tuesday he was back in court in Napier after admitting the manslaughter death of Sahara Jayde Baker-Koro in December.

The girl was found dead in her bed at the Napier home of Ratana's partner, Chantally Baker, just before Christmas.

Ratana had been looking after the child while her mother was out.

Violence in the couple's relationship had brought the family to the attention of welfare agencies and when Ratana appeared in the Wanganui District Court last year he said he wanted to turn his life around.

He was being sentenced for disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence and for breaching a community work order.

Judge John Clapham convicted and discharged him without penalty, telling him to write to him in a year about his wonderful life, the New Zealand Herald reported today.

Ratana and Ms Baker moved to Hawkes Bay for a new life.

In Tuesday before Justice Patricia Courtney in the High Court in Napier, he admitted the manslaughter of Sahara by assaulting her but denied sexually violating her on December 21.

He was remanded in custody to a later date for trial on the sex charge.

Details of how the five-year-old died cannot be published.

She lived with her mother, sister, seven, and brother, two, and had just finished her first year at nearby Onekawa School