Killer mother Heidi Strbak loses appeal over toddler Tyrell Cobb’s death

Killer mother Heidi Strbak has lost her appeal against her sentence over the death of her son Tyrell Cobb, meaning she will remain in jail until at least 2021.

KILLER mother Heidi Strbak has lost her appeal against her sentence over the death of her son Tyrell Cobb.

In 2017, Strbak was held responsible for the child’s killing after the Brisbane Supreme Court found there was no compelling evidence that her ex-boyfriend, Matthew Scown, had inflicted the fatal injuries to her son at Biggera Waters on the Gold Coast almost 10 years ago.

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Tyrell Cobb died in May 2009 from abdominal injuries caused by blunt force trauma.

After being jailed for nine years after pleading guilty to manslaughter, Strbak last year appealed her sentence on the basis the sentencing judge should not have concluded she inflicted the fatal blow to the child.

She will be eligible for parole in 2021.

In October 2017, Strbak’s ex-partner Matthew Scown pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis he didn’t get medical help for Tyrell.

He was sentenced to four years’ jail but released immediately after serving almost three years on remand.

Heidi Strbak argued she should never have been held responsible for her son’s death. Picture: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt

On appeal, Strbak tried to argue she should never have been held responsible for her son Tyrell Cobb’s death because Scown had an incentive to lie about what really happened to the four-year-old boy.

Defence barrister Saul Holt SC told the Queensland Court of Appeal during the sentencing hearing last year, the fact Scown had an incentive to lie about the circumstances around Tyrell’s death because he was set to received a reduced sentence for cooperating with authorities.

He claimed the sentencing judge failed to consider how the status as a special witness affected Mr Scown’s credibility on the stand.

Tyrell Cobb died in May 2009 from abdominal injuries caused by blunt force trauma.

Mr Holt said once it was determined Scown had not delivered the fatal injury to the child, the circumstantial case against Ms Strbak became “supercharged”.

He had also argued the sentencing judge erred in concluding Strbak inflicted the fatal injury and put weight on the fact Strbak had not given evidence.

But the Queensland Court of Appeal today refused the application for leave to appeal saying the sentencing judge’s reasoning contained no “evident error”.

The Court said the conclusion that Strbak inflicted the fatal injuries was not “so glaringly improbable” that the judge misused evidence presented in the sentencing hearing.

Originally published as Killer mother Heidi Strbak loses appeal over toddler Tyrell Cobb’s death