Source : Perth Now news
A negligent mother awaiting sentence over the death of her daughter sobbed in the dock as she was accused of trying to “paint herself as a victim” following the tragedy.
Crystal Hanley admitted three charges of criminal neglect relating to three of her children, including six-year-old Charlie, who died in July 2022.
The youngster, of Munno Para West in Adelaide’s north, died as a result of “cardiac failure associated with anaemia and severe iron deficiency”, with her death leading to her mother’s neglect charge.
Ms Hanley, 49, is due to be sentenced over the trio of charges next week, having entered guilty pleas to the three charges.
She wept in the dock throughout a hearing at South Australia’s Supreme Court ahead of her sentencing.
The court was told of accusations that Ms Hanley had sought to “paint herself as a victim” in the wake of her daughter’s death through two media interviews given to the Advertiser newspaper and 7News journalists.
And the court was also told that she had made several attempts to contact her surviving children despite strict bail conditions forbidding her from doing so.
“What this shows is a flagrant disregard for conditions imposed on her by the court – not only by the number of breaches but the different things. This amounts to concerns about her prospects of rehabilitation,” prosecutor Nicola Zuckerman said.
“She was trying to paint herself as a victim (in the interviews).”
Ms Hanley’s defence counsel Chris Kummerow said her attempts to contact her other children needed to be taken “in context”.
“After Charlie’s death, her children were taken away but she remained in the Munno Para address on her own and was constantly reminded of where Charlie died and her death,” he said.
“She was alone and still living in the same street with the same set of neighbours.”
Mr Kummerow dismissed that Ms Hanley’s media interviews were an attempt to “control the narrative” after the tragedy.
“There was significant public interest in the case and Ms Hanley was contacted by the journalists, she did not seek out publicity, she was simply answering questions when asked,” he said.
“It was perhaps better she did not.”
A previous hearing in the case was told Ms Hanley had shown “callous disregard” for her daughter’s deteriorating health before the tragedy on July 15, 2022.
She initially faced a manslaughter charge, but this was dropped upon her entering guilty pleas for criminal neglect.
Ms Hanley, who held her head in her hands throughout Monday’s hearing, will be sentenced on Thursday, March 12 in the same court.
