Gold Coast baby death: Baby girl’s father set to be charged
A homeless man who allegedly sacrificed his baby daughter, believing she was possessed by demons, attacked a council worker on a Gold Coast beach two months ago, an extradition hearing has been told.
Crime & Justice
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A HOMELESS man accused of murdering his baby daughter attacked a council worker on a Gold Coast beach only two months ago, a court has been told.
The man, 48, appeared in Southport Magistrates Court facing extradition to NSW over the death of the baby whose body was found washed up on Surfers Paradise Beach on Monday.
But the court first dealt with an outstanding public nuisance charge against the man.
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The court heard the man angrily confronted and threatened a council worker at Broadbeach on September 5, throwing bottles at him and running at him with a 1.5m stick.
The attack came after the council worker spoke to the man’s partner about illegal camping in the sand dunes.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable James Treanor said the man called the council worker a dog, c--- and murderer while continuing to run at him.
The council worker feared for his safety and activated his body-worn camera, the court heard.
Magistrate John Costanzo said it was a serious case of public nuisance, and the man had an extensive criminal history, including for assault occasioning bodily harm.
He was also on a suspended sentence at the time of the public nuisance offence.
Defence lawyer Sunil Dutt said his client believed he was defending his family.
Mr Dutt said his client had a very poor upbringing, suffered from schizophrenia and was on a disability pension.
Mr Costanzo sentenced the man to 10 months’ jail but set his parole release date as March 20 next year.
The extradition hearing is continuing.
At a media conference at Tweed Heads police station this afternoon, Detective Inspector Brendan Cullen refused to comment on reports the father allegedly believed the baby was possessed by demons and he had thrown her into the Jack Evans Boat Harbour at the mouth of the Tweed River.
“I can’t say anything about that,” Insp Cullen told reporters.
Police will allege the nine-month-old was killed and dumped naked into the harbour over the weekend and her tiny body swept 30km north in the ocean.
It comes as the accused man’s family - visiting the Tweed site of the baby’s death - told the Daily Mail they were livid to hear the ‘loving father’ had been locked up.
The man’s aunt Paulette said her nephew was proud to show off his daughter and three-year-old son and did not believe he would be capable of killing his baby.
She had tried to take in the children to help out her nephew and his partner - who appeared to be struggling - but the couple did not take her up on the offer.
‘I cried all night. I told her I’d take the kids and she wouldn’t let me,’ she told the Daily Mail.
Paulette also said the children’s mother had been struggling to take care of the ‘restless baby’.
The baby and her young brother had been living rough with their parents, the 48-year-man and his 23-year-partner, in parks up and down the Gold Coast.
Insp Cullen said a warrant had been issued for the father on a charge of murder.
He said police divers were continuing to search the harbour for clues and police were studying CCTV footage of the family’s movements around the Gold Coast.
Insp Cullen said the results of an autopsy yesterday would be ‘extremely important’ to what was still a ‘dynamic investigation’.
The baby’s father faced an extradition hearing in Southport Magistrates Court this morning, represented by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service.
Wearing a white checked hospital gown, he sat in the dock with his arms crossed, showing no emotion.
The court heard he was on bail for a charge of public nuisance in Queensland.
His lawyer did not oppose the extradition.
The mother was released from custody without charge on Tuesday.
A woman who gave the family money and food at Jack Evans Boat Harbour said the father claimed to be “into black magic”.
Police divers yesterday scoured the harbour, a popular recreational spot surrounded by parklands and the Twin Towns Services Club.
The couple, who were arrested at Broadbeach on Monday morning, spent a second day in Southport Watch-house yesterday after detectives applied to Southport Magistrates Court to detain them for further questioning, but it’s believed the woman was released from custody.
Trevor Arbon, who runs Big Trev’s Watersports at the boat harbour, said police attended the park late on Monday accompanied by the mother. The couple had left a stroller at the scene.
He said the family, who were travelling in a battered black Toyota Hiace van, had spent several weeks living on and off at the park.
“It was really sad to see the little kids just getting around in disposable nappies,” he said.
Mr Arbon said the father “walked around with a stick with some feathers hanging off it and was banging it on the bins, walking around”.
“A lot of the other homeless Kooris (indigenous people) here didn’t want anything to do with him. The locals were a bit off him. The mother seemed to really care for the kids.
“The last I saw them was two days ago when she had the kids on a blanket here (in the park overlooking the boat harbour.
“It’s so sad for those two babies. They could have been adopted. They were beautiful little babies.”
Robyn Greenside, who lives in her Kombi van and visits Jack Evans Boat Harbour regularly, said the father claimed to be ‘in to black magic’.
She gave the couple some money she received for her birthday on October 30 to buy nappies and food.
“I knew I couldn’t have them all in the van with me at night but the least I could do was look after them in the day,” she said.
“Then I just pulled right back because I was scared of him. He didn’t like strong people around her (his partner) so he felt quite threatened.
“She’s from a very good family in Geelong (in Victoria). She’s university-educated and met him up here at Surfers. I think they’ve been together for about three or four years and the family have tried to get her away from him.
“They arrived in the park in about September and that’s when I worked out they were homeless.”
Ms Greenside said the family were thrown out of a toilet block by a security guard during recent heavy rain.
“I’m so glad that I tried to help them — (the) Child Safety (department) clearly didn’t,” she said.
“When I walked away from the baby, she cried. It’s heartbreaking.”
A local indigenous woman, Kirsty Davis, said the man tried to hand her the baby at the weekend.
“The father was having a couple of drinks, socialising a bit … then he put the baby in my arms and started walking away,” she told 7 News.
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