Leeanne Eatts still in watchhouse after manslaughter trial verdict

A mother found guilty of the manslaughter of her two young sons who drowned in a Townsville river has been kept in a police watch house as there is no room at the women’s prison for her.

Leeanne Chrysilla Eatts, Barak Brian Austral, 5 (known as Junior) and Jhulio Maximus Arturo Sariago 3.

Leeanne Eatts, who was found guilty of the manslaughter of her two young sons who drowned in the Ross River, has been kept in the Townsville Watch House for the past 10 days.

She was taken into custody after a jury found her guilty of two counts of manslaughter on September 27.

But her barrister Harvey Walters told the Supreme Court on Thursday that the 52-year-old woman remained in the watch house as there was no cell available for her in the Women’s Correctional Centre.

“She has been very unwell,” he said.

Eatts had pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of her two sons, Barak Brian Austral, 5 (known as Junior) and Jhulio Maximus Arturo Sariago, 3, who drowned in flooded conditions beside the Ross River in Townsville on February 25, 2019.

Leeanne Eatts outside the Townsville Courthouse. Picture: Shae Beplate.

But after an eight-day trial, the jury took just less than three hours on September 27 to convict her.

Mr Walters said Eatts required a lengthy consultation and assessment by Robert Walkley, a leading Queensland forensic psychologist, before her sentence could be decided.

Leeanne Eatts (middle) outside the Townsville Courthouse. Picture: Shae Beplate.

He said Mr Walkley required three or four, two-hour consultations with her, plus a discussion with a cultural elder, before making his final report.

“Because of her state of mind at the moment, she has not been able to discuss these matters,” he said.

Justice David North set Friday, February 16, 2024 for the sentencing in the Supreme Court.

In his final instructions to the jury of eight men and four women, Justice North talked about section 286(1)(b) of the Queensland Criminal Code, which basically stated that Eatts had to take sufficient and reasonable precautions to supervise her two boys and stop them having access to the body of water in which they drowned.

Prosecutor David Nardone explained to the jury at the start of the trial that the entire case against Eatts centred on her omission in failing to supervise the children adequately, rather than any action she had taken.

He explained during the trial that there was one hour and 19 minutes where the two boys were unsupervised on the afternoon of February 25, 2019, and that that omission by Eatts was criminal and warranted the charge of manslaughter.

Eatts was portrayed by the defence as a caring and loving mother who had lost a third son in a tragic motorcycle accident last year and had suffered greatly in the past four-and-a-half years since the double drowning.

Originally published as Leeanne Eatts still in watchhouse after manslaughter trial verdict