Charmaine McLeod inquest: Coroner gives ruling into crash that killed mum, four children
A mother who died along with her four children when their family car crashed head-on into truck has been found by a coroner to have suicided and committed “filicide” of her children.
Police & Courts
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A coroner has found a mother who died in a crash with her four young children north of Brisbane suicided and committed the “filicide” of the children.
Charmaine McLeod, 35 and her two daughters Aaleyn, 6, Matilda, 5, and two sons Wyatt, 4, and Zaidok, 2 perished when Ms McLeod drove into a path of a semi-trailer on the Bunya Highway near Kingaroy on May 27 2019.
An inquest last year heard the deaths occurred against a backdrop Ms McLeod’s complex mental health issues – including borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia – and a bitter custody dispute.
Coroner Kerrie O’Callaghan said Ms McLeod received an email on the day of the crash containing legal advice about the potential legal consequences of her actions in keeping the children away from her former husband James McLeod’s access visits.
Ms McLeod perceived from this that she would lose custody of the children, Ms O’Callaghan said.
“In keeping with her untreated mental health conditions, particularly borderline personality, this belief triggered a traumatic response namely killing herself and her children,” Ms O’Callaghan said.
“I’m unable to determine whether this was solely an act of revenge against Mr McLeod or a result of a genuinely perceived fear for the safety of herself and her children.
“It is difficult to conclude however that Ms McLeod acted protectively in killing her children.”
Ms O’Callaghan found no adverse findings against any of the individuals or agencies that had dealings with Ms McLeod or her children.
She said the suicide and filicide “was virtually impossible to detect by the agencies”.
“With the benefit of hindsight it will be seen, that with respect to some issues, things could have been done differently or with a different focus,” she said.
“Ultimately I conclude even with a different approach to those issues the death of Ms McLeod and her children would not have been prevented.”
The coroner found the response of Queensland Police into unfounded allegations which she made of domestic violence and sexual abuse of her and her children by Mr McLeod which he vigorously denied and was never charged over, was “adequate and appropriate”.
She found the mental health response by Queensland Health and related entities were also appropriate.
The role played by agencies, including Child Safety, for “the protection, safety and welfare for children were adequate and appropriate in the circumstances”.
Ms O’Callaghan accepted the email exchanges between Ms McLeod and a lawyer on the day of the crash triggered a response which played a role in the mother deciding to take her and her children’s lives. However this was a consequence of Ms McLeod’s borderline personality disorder and “not by way of criticism of the solicitor” whose correspondence with the mother Ms O’Callaghan said was appropriate.
However Ms O’Callaghan found there was room to provide additional training and support for legal practitioners when dealing with people experiencing crisis or complex mental health needs.
In her only recommendations she asked the Queensland Law Society to consider providing
providing a mental health specialist consultant service for solicitors to seek mental health advice to assist vulnerable clients and those with complex, trauma and or domestic violence needs.
She also recommended the law society and Legal Aid Queensland consider providing continuing professional development to solicitors addressing the coercive impact of family law proceedings on clients, with particular emphasis on those with mental health conditions including Borderline Personality Disorder, how to identify when those clients are experiencing crisis and now to engage with those clients.
Ms O’Callaghan expressed her “deepest condolences” to Ms McLeod’s family and Mr McLeod.
Outside court Ms McLeod’s father Paul Harris said he was disappointed with the outcome.
“There’s nothing nothing at all,” he said.
“I was hoping for some changes
“So to say it will never happen again is crazy. It will happen again.”
Mr Harris said the loss of his daughter and grandchildren had been “hard to deal with”.
“We’re doing the best we can,” he said.
Mr McLeod declined to comment outside.
“Not at the moment mate,” he said.
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