Gympie mother pleads guilty to assaulting toddler

A MOTHER of three, who threw her two-year-old daughter on to concrete, has spent a year without her children after they were removed from her care.

A MOTHER of three, who threw her two-year-old daughter on to concrete, has spent a year without her children after they were removed from her care.

The daily anguish of life without them was more punishment than any judge could impose, the woman's lawyer told Gympie District Court yesterday.

The Gympie mother pleaded guilty to assaulting her young daughter during a drunken outburst at a party early last year.

The court heard the woman, 25, was drinking with adults after a child's birthday party when tensions with her ex partner heightened her emotional state.

When the toddler wandered towards her, she became the victim of her mother's angry outburst, the court heard. It heard the woman came to her senses immediately and comforted the child, whose head had hit the concrete, before the ambulance arrived.

The woman's barrister, Don Mackenzie, said his client had a bad childhood and a long history of substance abuse.

She had grown up in a household rife with alcohol abuse and domestic violence and now had the added burden of guilt about not having access to her children.

He told the court of her daily anguish, having only seen her children, who now live with their father in Brisbane, once since they were removed.

"This is a very sad case," Judge J. Robertson told the woman.

"Clearly you have a major problem with anger management," he said.

He said no punishment he could hand out would be worse than the dreadful burden she must bear from being without her children.

The judge placed the woman on probation for two years and urged her to abide by it.

"It's up to you now to make real efforts to address your difficulties," he told her.