Mother of Bradyn Dillon drugged father in attempt to save him from violence
Murdered Canberra boy Bradyn Dillon begged not to be returned into the custody of his father, who later bashed him so severely he died from his injuries
Canberra Star
Don't miss out on the headlines from Canberra Star. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The mother of murdered boy Bradyn Dillon drugged his abusive father’s drink in an attempt to rescue him from further violence, an inquest has heard.
The nine-year-old died in February 2016 after being subjected to beatings by his father that were so severe they were described as “torture”.
On Tuesday Bradyn’s mother told an inquest into his death that she had alerted police, child protection workers, the courts and multiple government departments about Graham Dillon’s repeated physical abuse of their son as she tried to gain custody.
She broke down in tears as she recounted the desperate lengths she went to in late 2014 when she drove from Shepparton in Victoria to Canberra in a bid to get her son back and save him from further physical abuse at the hands of Dillon.
“I put 300 grams of Seroquel in his coffee so he could go to sleep so I could take (Bradyn) without him harming us,” she told the inquest.
Seroquel is an antipsychotic but drowsiness is one of the drug’s side effects.
This was after allegedly learning Bradyn had been taken to hospital for a sexual examination after Dillon had “interfered” with him, the inquest heard.
The mother, whose identity has been suppressed, also told the inquest Bradyn had begged not to be sent back into the custody of his father in a meeting with Victorian authorities in which he said: “Please don’t send me back to daddy”.
He had also screamed in protest when delivered back into Dillon’s custody.
Even in the moment Dillon took Bradyn away he was still threatening the mother with violence, making a gesture that suggested he was going to slice her throat as he took Bradyn away, she said.
Dillon is serving 36 years in prison after pleading guilty to Bradyn’s murder.
The inquest has heard Dillon’s treatment of the boy amounted to “torture” as he had subjected him to repeated physical abuse described as “brutal and cowardly”.
The mother said she had shown officers at Shepparton Police Station in Victoria photos of bullets and a gun sent by Dillon to her in December 2014.
He had posted the photos on Facebook accompanied by the message: ”Christmas presents for you … tick tock bitch”.
She told the inquest officers told her they did not want to “touch” her case as it dealt with federal jurisdiction.
“I wanted (the police) to help,” she said. “Someone was going to end up dead.”
She tried reaching out to child protection agencies in Victoria and the ACT, the Australian Federal Police, lawyers and various courts to alert them to Dillon’s violence but ultimately he maintained custody over Bradyn.
The court heard the mother occasionally smoked the drug ice but never in the presence of Bradyn.
She made calls two to three times every week “to anyone who I could think of who would actually listen to me and help”.
The ACT’s Child and Youth Protection Services were getting “crabby” with her due to her persistent phone calls, she claimed.
She obtained a protection order for her and Bradyn in Victoria but dropped it after Dillon promised to return Bradyn if she did so.
He never did.
The inquest would examine the adequacy and management of the response from multiple agencies including Child and Youth Protection Services, the police and ACT Health and what changes had been made to their protocols and training following the death.
It will also examine what they knew or should have known in relation to the risks to Braydn, what they did or should have done in relation to those risks and why agencies’ interactions with him were discontinued.
The mother said she was “still confused” by the court process and “the different rules” in different states.
She said her relationship with Dillon was defined by violence and threats towards her life and that of her family’s, describing him as “controlling, rough and dominating”.
“He would often hit and strangle me … he was pretty much just making my life unbearable,” she said.
“He said he would gut (my grandparents) like the dogs they are and slit their throats.”
The mother took a photo of Bradyn the last time she saw him on an agreed visit in Albury where he was pictured with bruising on his face.
“Graham made me put a beanie on so you couldn’t see the ones on his forehead,” she said.
She also recalled seeing a “big bruise, like a kicking bruise” on his leg.
An autopsy revealed the little boy’s extensive injuries included multiple bruises, abrasions, scars, fractured teeth and broken bones.
A particularly vicious attack about eight weeks before his death including blows to the head, which resulted in a subdural haemorrhage.
On the day he died, February 15, 2016, Dillon told his son to bend over a marble coffee table while he beat him with a belt before kicking him in the abdomen.
He then reigned down more blows on his face and head, causing him to lose consciousness.
He never woke up.
IN OTHER NEWS
