Alana Jade Osborne in Pine Rivers court for harassing grieving SEQ mother

A Moreton court has heard details about a “cold, “relentless’’ online bullying campaign a former friend meted out against a grieving mum whose toddler drowned in a Rockhampton hot tub.

A Moreton court has heard a young mum who lost her job the same day her baby girl drowned in a hot tub at their Rockhampton home was harrassed relentlessly by another woman online just two days after the tragedy.

Alana Jade Osborne, 29, even signed the mum and daughter up for swimming lessons in the days after the tragedy late last year.

Osborne appeared in the Pine Rivers Magistrate Court on June 7, 2024, charged with one count of unlawful stalking, harassment, intimidation or abuse against Tahlia Kay Murphy.

The court heard that on various dates between August 12, 2022 and December 7, 2023 at Taigum and elsewhere in Queensland, Osborne and co-defendant Jessie Ella Ayling subjected Murphy to a vendetta of online harassment.

They created a series of social media accounts to “make a mockery’’ of the death of Murphy’s toddler, Taidyn “Totty’’ Murphy, the court heard.

Taidyn was just 17 months old when she drowned in a spa bath at her family’s Gracemere, Rockhampton home while Mrs Murphy was at work.

Mrs Murphy is not accused of any wrongdoing over the death.

The court heard that as part of Osborne’s harassment, she registered Mrs Murphy in a swim school which then contacted Ms Murphy about completing lessons, causing her great distress.

Taidyn "Totty" Murphy. Totty drowned in a spa at the family's Gracemere home.

The court heard Osborne and Ayling also created various fake social media accounts and posted content and comments about Taidyn’s drowning.

The court was told the pair sent emails to the manager of Mrs Murphy’s workplace, abusing her and making demands for her to be dismissed.

Osborne even sent pizza deliveries to Mrs Murphy’s house that were not ordered by her, the court heard.

Magistrate Annette Hennessey read out Mrs Murphy’s victim impact statement which said she was unable to properly grieve Taidyn’s death because of the harassment, which caused her to experience negative mental health reactions which resulted in psychological treatment.

“She said that the harassment and torment caused by yourself and the co-defendant, during one of the most stressful and heartbreaking times of her life, made her feel mad, angry and stressed and she contemplated taking her own life on multiple occasions,” Ms Hennessey said.

“She says she felt betrayed and stressed by both the content of the posts and messages that you and the co-defendant sent online.

“Also, by the way the content was so publicly and openly shared, to both her family members and the online community on Facebook.

“These messages and harassment started to occur two days after the death of her daughter.

“When she was in the thick of her grief and then tormented online, she couldn’t think or focus on organising her daughter’s funeral because of your actions.

“She had an older daughter at the time ,who was 12, and she refers to you contacting the daughter with distressing content as well.”

Tahlia Brown with daughter Taidyn "Totty" Murphy.

The police prosecutor, Mr Shiyaad, told the court the method used by Osborne and Ayling to inflict the “mental torture’’ on Mrs Murphy was complex and relentless.

“The defendant and co-defendant’s malicious and depraved actions .... were directed at a victim when they were at their lowest point,” Mr Shiyaad said.

“For the defendant and co-defendant to make a mockery of this death, to harass the grieving victim, it is inexcusable.

“The method employed by the defendants to inflict this act of mental torture was complex and relentless.

“It is further aggravating that these (two women) not only contacted the aggrieved but also her systems of support, being her family and her friends.

“It should also be noted that the defendants involved innocent third parties.

“Businesses who were contacted by the victim, only due to their actions, who unwittingly re-traumatised the victim.

“These were cold, calculated and premeditated acts.”

Osborne’s lawyer Andrew Ferrett told the court his client knew Mrs Murphy since 2012.

The pair became close in 2016 when they both had children about the same time.

The court heard Mrs Murphy and her husband Cecil Murphy allowed Osborne to stay in their home for four to five months in 2020 as Osborne battled her own challenges.

In her victim impact statement, Mrs Murphy wrote that she considered Osborne to be her best friend between 2017 and 2021.

Tahlia Brown with daughter Taidyn "Totty" Murphy.

“She (Osborne) managed to get herself off amphetamine and during a period of time, moved up to Rockhampton to stay with the victim.

“Their relationship became a little fractured during that period of time because my client felt the victim was quite insensitive towards her plight with amphetamine addiction at the time.

“She felt the victim could be patronising towards her and insensitive about her predicament.”

Mr Ferrett told the court Osborne moved back to Brisbane where Mr Murphy had an affair with Ayling.

“The victim contacted my client to ask her to investigate the possibility that her partner Cecil was having a relationship, which he was with the co-defendant,” Mr Ferrett said.

“My client then came into contact with the co-defendant, while she was in a relationship with the victim’s partner and ironically became close to the co-defendant.

“She did start to have a difficulty with the victim and this was enhanced by the acrimonious relationship between Jesse(Ayling) and the victim Tahlia, as a result of Tahlia’s partner Cecil having a relationship with Jesse.”

Mr Ferrett told the court Osborne was mostly raised by her mother and had a difficult relationship with her controlling mother.

This resulted in periodic homelessness and other issues during childhood.

The court also heard Osborne was a mother caring for four children, including a nine-year-old boy whose parents were in jail.

Pine Rivers Court heard Alana Jade Osborne horribly trolled the mother of Totty Murphy. Picture: Liam Kidston

The court heard Osborne was being considered for the position of an Indigenous Liaison Officer with Metro North Health.

She currently worked as a retail assistant and service station assistant and was undertaking a Certificate III in pathology in the hopes of a career in medical science.

The court heard that in retaliation for their bullying campaign, Mrs Murphy instigated a revenge attack on Ayling and Osborne with the aid of her husband and a third co-accused.

On February 26, 2024, Mr and Mrs Murphy were sentenced to a 2.5 years wholly suspended sentence for firebombing Osborne’s car, with a third co-accused, on November 30, 2022 at Taigum.

Ayling was sentenced in the Ipswich Magistrates Court on May 17 to 12 months’ probation for using a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offence to Mrs Murphy, along with breaching her bail conditions.

It is understood Ayling was in a relationship with Mr Murphy when the couple separated briefly in 2022.

The court heard Ayling had sent harassing messages telling Mrs Murphy to kill herself and made posts and Tik Toks blaming Ms Murphy for Totty’s death.

Magistrate Hennessey sentenced Osborne, who pleaded guilty, to 18 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for two years and imposed a five-year restraining order on Osborne to not contact Ms Murphy.

A conviction was recorded.