Mary Anne Thompson, the ex-head of Immigration New Zealand, was sentenced in the High Court today. She was given a fine of $10,000 and has to do 100 hours community service.

She claimed on her CV that she had a PhD from the London School of Economics but in fact she did not finish her degree. For the last 20 years she has had very good jobs because people thought she had a PhD. She worked for the Ministry of Maori Affairs and then for the Prime Minister’s office. After that, she was the head of Immigration.

She pleaded guilty in February to making a false claim. The judge said that in fact she had always done a good job.

Now she will have difficulty getting work again. She is only 54 years old.

Listen to May 19th 2008 for more about this matter.