By Sarah McPhee
Warning: Graphic content
A Sydney toddler tortured and then murdered by her mother’s new boyfriend was failed by the state’s child protection system when it inappropriately decided to close her case, leaving her unsupported and exposed to danger, a coroner has said as she delivered scathing findings.
The girl, known as DB for legal reasons, was aged two years and nine months when killed by Mohammed Khazma in December 2016. She died in hospital from brain and spinal cord injuries.
Mohammed Khazma is serving a maximum of 44 years’ imprisonment for murder.Credit: AAP
The child’s mother, who also cannot be identified, met Khazma on Facebook approximately two months before her daughter’s death. The pair lived with him for three weeks, during which his violence became systematic and unrelenting, deputy state coroner Harriet Grahame said in her 50-page findings, handed down on Thursday.
Girl suffered more than 100 injuries
The coroner said the violence and cruelty Khazma inflicted upon the toddler was “extreme”.
“While it is extraordinarily painful to record, the nature and severity of DB’s injuries cannot be glossed over or forgotten,” Grahame said.
“DB had been struck, burnt and bitten. She had been assaulted repeatedly over days. The pain she had suffered must have been unbearable.”
Khazma’s trial in 2019 heard the toddler sustained 114 injuries, including burns from the top of a cigarette lighter, which he called “smileys”. The jury found him guilty of murder and assault.
The sentencing judge, Justice Elizabeth Fullerton, was satisfied Khazma derived “some perverse pleasure” from the child’s pain. She jailed Khazma for 44 years, with a non-parole period of 33 years.
Mohammed Khazma had only lived with the girl and her mother for three weeks before the murder.Credit: Facebook
DB’s mother pleaded guilty to manslaughter by gross criminal negligence. She was jailed for three years with a non-parole period of 16 months.
Missed opportunities and failures
The inquest focused on whether the agencies involved, including the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), could have done more to prevent the circumstances in which DB’s death occurred.
“The court was keen to understand why she was not visible to people who could have assisted her,” the coroner said.
The inquest heard DB’s family became involved with the department in May 2015 following a Risk of Significant Harm (ROSH) report by an anonymous female caller. The family was referred to the intervention program Brighter Futures, run by not-for-profit organisation The Benevolent Society.
‘[The child] had been struck, burnt and bitten... The pain she had suffered must have been unbearable.’
Harriet Grahame, deputy state coroner
The coroner accepted the referral was “premature”, had a “devastating flow-on effect”, and was a missed opportunity for a more formal departmental response.
Over three months, seven ROSH calls were made to the DCJ Helpline about DB and her brother, raising serious concerns about the mother’s behaviour, including abuse and neglect, and that the children were encountering “people who may be dangerous”.
However, a DCJ caseworker wrongly characterised the reports as “malicious” or “vexatious” after DB’s mother claimed they were being made by a former friend. That worker was unaware they were from five different women.
Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame has handed down her findings into the toddler’s death.Credit: Yianni Aspradakis
The seventh call was made in August 2015 by a caseworker for The Benevolent Society after the family had moved to another DCJ district. The worker raised concerns that the mother would not seek medical assistance for any injury to her daughter, and said “future concerns may go unnoticed” given their involvement had ended.
The coroner said that report, in hindsight, was “chilling” and “should have prompted immediate action” by DCJ.
But the family’s file did not follow them to their new location, so there was no further risk assessment, and the department ultimately closed the case.
“No adequate reason has been given for this major failing,” the coroner said. “The movement between districts is irrelevant to the concerns raised. I consider this a very significant failure.”
‘We loved each other very much. We would run through the hallway and meet in the middle to hug each other and laugh.’
The brother of the murdered toddler
There was no record of any contact between DCJ and the family between August 2015 and December 2016 when DB died.
The coroner characterised the file closure, on the information at the time, as “inappropriate” and “unsafe”.
She commended The Benevolent Society workers who had “tried to trigger DCJ to consider a statutory response”.
“I regret the trauma they have suffered in later learning what happened to the children after DCJ closed its file,” Grahame said.
‘Urgent’ need for major reform
The coroner said there was no suggestion the “very specific risk” of the girl being “very seriously injured or killed” after her mother began living with Khazma could have been identified at the time her case was closed.
“Nevertheless, in my view, it can be established that DB’s situation at the time of case closure involved potential danger, which had been inadequately assessed and acted upon. DB was left unsupported.”
Whilst it could not be known what might have happened if the file remained open, DB “would have been more visible, and that alone would have increased her chance to avoid the horror which was to ensue”, Grahame added.
According to the findings, DCJ accepted it “missed numerous opportunities to protect” the children and “did not respond with appropriate urgency and skill to consistent information” that they were in danger.
Grahame said while she was extremely critical of DCJ’s work with DB and her family, she was not blind to the difficulties experienced by child protection workers.
She said major reform was “urgently” needed, and acknowledged reports last year from the NSW Ombudsman and Auditor-General, who said the system was “inefficient, ineffective, and unsustainable”.
A DCJ spokesperson said the NSW government was implementing significant reforms to the child protection system focused on improving safety, lifting accountability and providing stability.
“The circumstances of DB’s death are deeply tragic and the DCJ extends its deepest sympathy to DB’s family, loved ones and community,” the spokesperson said on Friday. They said the department is considering the coroner’s findings and will “work to fix” any issues yet to be addressed.
In a statement to the inquest, DB’s brother remembered his sister had followed him everywhere like a shadow.
“She looked up to me, and we loved each other very much,” the boy said. “We would run through the hallway and meet in the middle to hug each other and laugh.”
The coroner said one day, if he chooses, DB’s brother will be old enough to read the findings.
“I offer him my sincere personal condolences and acknowledge his strength,” Grahame said. “I am sorry we were unable to keep him and his sister safe.”
Khazma, 31, is eligible for parole in December 2049.
If you or anyone you know needs help, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 (and see lifeline.org.au), 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), the National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service on 1800 211 028 or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.
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