Gold Coast boy Tyrell Cobb could have been saved, expert tells court

THE devastated father of a four-year-old Gold Coast boy recalled how his son told him “I love you, I miss you” before he died.

Heidi Strbak, 32, was arrested after police launched a cold case investigation into Tyrell Cobb's death in 2009.

UPDATE: The devastated father of a four-year-old Gold Coast boy recalled how his son told him “I love you, I miss you” before he died.

Tyrell Cobb was found unconscious at a Biggera Waters home on May 24, 2009, with 70 injuries on his body and was later pronounced dead in hospital. His mother Heidi Strbak, 33, and her ex-partner Matthew Scown, 33, are facing a committal hearing at Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with murder.

Heidi Strbak leaves the Magistrates Court in Brisbane. Strbak, 33, and her ex-partner Matthew Scown, 33, are accused of murdering her four-year-old son Tyrell Cobb, who was found unconscious at a Biggera Waters home on May 24, 2009. (AAP Image/Dan Peled).

Tyrell’s father Jason Cobb, who split from Strbak in 2008, told the court his son told him he loved him and missed him the last time they spoke. He said he used to phone his little boy every evening around 8pm before he went to bed.

He added: “It was his bedtime and I would say goodnight to him. “I said ‘how’s your day son?’ And he started telling me things he had done, I don’t remember what they were.

“He said ‘I love you dad, I miss you’.” Mr Cobb said Tyrell had “sounded normal” and did not appear to have been vomiting or having trouble breathing.

Heidi Strbak pictured here outside the Brisbane Magistrate Court yesterday. Pictures: Jack Tran

He said during a previous visit Tyrell told him Scown had “slapped him on the head”.

The information was missing from Mr Cobb’s original statement to police, the court heard.

He described himself as “messed up” at the time he was speaking to officers and added: “It was really hard for me.” Paediatric expert Professor Roy Kimble said Tyrell would have been in severe pain but could have made a “full recovery” if he had been taken to hospital sooner.

He was taken to hospital the week before his death with an injured arm and was kept in for five days after medics found he also had an infected wound on his finger.

Strbak and Scown claimed his many injuries had been caused by falls or accidents.

Prof Kimble said: “He certainly had a lot of bruises around his body, much more than would be expected in normal childhood play.

“Obviously this child has had more than one blow to the abdomen, this child has had many blows to cause all the bruises on the body.”

EARLIER: A FOUR-year-old Gold Coast boy could “certainly” have been saved hours before he died from internal injuries, a court has been told.

Tyrell Cobb was found unconscious at a Biggera Waters home on May 24, 2009, with 70 injuries on his body and was later pronounced dead in hospital.

His mother Heidi Strbak, 33, and her ex-partner Matthew Scown, 33, faced a committal hearing at Brisbane Magistrates Court on today charged with murder.

Paediatric expert Professor Roy Kimble said Tyrell would have been in severe pain but could have made a “full recovery” if he had been taken to hospital sooner.

“Within a few hours of his death we could have saved this boy certainly,” he told the court.

Tyrell was taken to hospital the week before his death with an injured arm and was kept in for five days after medics found he also had an infected wound on his finger.

Strbak and Scown claimed his many injuries had been caused by falls or accidents.

“He certainly had a lot of bruises around his body, much more than would be expected in normal childhood play,” Prof Kimble said.

“Obviously this child has had more than one blow to the abdomen, this child has had many blows to cause all the bruises on the body.”

Paediatrician Dr Kerry Sullivan said that the dozens of bruises on the boy’s head, boy and especially ears, could not have been caused by a fall.

“Looking at the totality of the bruises I think it’s highly unlikely they were caused by the fall,” Dr Sullivan said.

Tyrell allegedly said Scown had punched him in the stomach and showed his uncle a bruise above his genitalia the day he died.

On another occasion, he showed his grandmother a bruise on his body and told her “Matt kicked me”, the court heard.

On the evening her son died Strbak allegedly went to her brother Bradley Allan’s house for cigarettes and to try to get cannabis.

The pair later discussed her “strategy” and what she should tell the police about her drug use during an investigation last year, the court heard.