Inquest into death of Caboolture toddler Mason Lee to focus on saving others from similar fate

An inquest into the horrific death of toddler Mason Lee was not the time for “vengeance and blame”, the Brisbane Coroners Court has heard today. Instead, it will focus on what can be done to save other children from a similar fate.

AN INQUEST into the tragic death of Caboolture toddler Mason Lee who died a horrific death at the hands of his mum and stepfather will not be focused on “retribution or revenge” against those who failed him, a court has heard.

A pre-inquest hearing was held in the Brisbane Coroners Court this morning where counsel assisting the coroner Jacoba Brasch said the inquest was not the time for “vengeance and blame” but the time to uncover what could have been done differently to prevent Mason’s tragic death and help avoid other children from suffering a similar fate in the future.

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Mason Lee dies on June 10, 2016 after he was struck so hard by his stepfather Andrew William O'Sullivan that his organs ruptured.

“In the middle of winter without the immediacy of love, care and affection, affectively alone Mason Jet Lee died what must have been an unimaginably painful death on the 10 June 16,” Ms Brasch said.

In June 2016, Mason’s stepfather Andrew William O’Sullivan struck the neglected boy so hard that his organs ruptured and left him to die a slow and painful death over days, refusing to seek help.

The boy’s mother Anne Maree Lee and O’Sullivan were each sentenced to nine years imprisonment over the 21-month-old toddler’s manslaughter.

“It is of course not the task of this inquest to go behind the admitted criminality of Lee or O’Sullivan, nevertheless both Lee and O’Sullivan will continue with their lives, Mason will not,” Ms Brasch said.

“Your honour, Lee and O’Sullivan were known to child protective services …

“In terms of child protection both Lee and O’Sullivan raised many red flags and concerns.”

But Ms Brasch said for all that was known about Lee and O’Sullivan, little was known about Mason.

Andrew William O'Sullivan.

Anne Maree Lee.

“Reported sightings of Mason seem to be few and far between in the records,” she said.

“In the critical week leading up to his death from Monday the 6th of June 2016 when Mason probably suffered the ultimately fatal blow by O’Sullivan, to the wee hours of Saturday 11th June 16 when his lifeless body was handed to ambulance officers, he may not have been seen by child protection support officers at all, notwithstanding the support that was being offered to Lee.

“It does not even seem clear at this point that those services tasked, indeed obliged with protecting children in need of protection, even knew Mason was in the primary, if not sole care, of O’Sullivan largely to the exclusion of his mother.”

Ms Brasch said all relevant safety workers involved in the case had already been the subject of an ethical standards review and that most allegations had been substantiated.

“Your honour there is nothing to be gained from approaching any witnesses with a view to retribution or revenge, for nothing will bring Mason back to us and such emotions cloud the ability to learn,” she said.

“One must assume each of these witnesses, especially the child safety workers have deeply searched their soul as to what they might have done differently.

“But your honour this is not a time for vengeance and blame, instead this is a time to ask all witnesses what could we now do differently or better.”

A coronial inquest is being held in Mason Lee’s horrific death.

She said during he inquest, frontline workers would be invited to speak “frankly and candidly” about how things could be done differently to protect vulnerable children.

“It may be your Honour that all the pieces of the puzzle that was Mason Jet Lee were in the grasp of authorities or otherwise easily ascertainable and it may be that no one put those pieces together to render the picture of a little boy who needed care and protection without a parent willing and able to do so,” she said.

The inquest is scheduled to begin on March 16 and is expected to run for two weeks.