WA government apologises to mother, grandfather of Charlie Mullaley

The murder of 10-month-old Aboriginal boy Charlie Mullaley is one of the most horrific crimes WA has seen. But for his mum and grandfather, the conduct of police compounded their pain.

Charlie’s mother, Tamica Mullaley, and her father, Ted. Picture: Ross Swanborough

The abduction, torture and murder of 10-month-old Aboriginal boy Charlie Mullaley almost 10 years ago was one of the most horrific and haunting crimes Western Australia had ever seen.

But for Charlie’s mother Tamica and grandfather Ted, the conduct of police during and after the child’s death compounded their already unimaginable pain.

On Wednesday, WA Attorney-General John Quigley addressed parliament to formally apologise to Tamica and Ted and grant them a pardon over the criminal convictions recorded against them over incidents stemming from that day.

They were charged with either assaulting or obstructing police and subsequently convicted in the events that preceded Charlie’s abduction.

Mr Quigley said the pair had “endured the unthinkable” and had been failed by both the police and the government.

“The systems we thought we could rely on to support victims of crime failed Tamica and Ted and they were dragged through the courts themselves,” he said.

“These pardons are a show of mercy which for Tamica and Ted that has been a long time coming.

Ten-month-old Charlie Mullaley suffered burns, broken bones, abrasions and injuries indicating sexual assault.

“While extensive work has been undertaken to prevent a tragedy like this happening again, as a government and a state we must acknowledge that the response was deficient. You deserved much better from the police and the government.”

The extraordinary apology and pardon follow a years-long campaign by advocates for formal recognition of the failures by WA police in their conduct towards Tamica and Ted, who believe racial stereotypes contributed to the botched police response.

Speaking to The Australian after the pardon, Tamica and Ted said they were pleased but promised they would continue to advocate for better police attitude towards the Indigenous community. They also expressed their disappointment that there had never been any misconduct findings against the officers involved.

“I’m happy but I think we need to keep pressure on the police to keep doing more,” Ted said.

“All we wanted out of this was to make sure it didn’t happen to anyone else, white or black.”

Tamica remembered Charlie as a thriving young boy who would light up the room.

“I’m just grateful for the apology, but it’s not going to bring Charlie boy back,” she said.

The man who murdered Charlie, Melvyn Bell, had earlier on the day of the abduction brutally bashed Tamica, his girlfriend at the time. She was left with severe internal injuries, including a deep laceration of her left kidney, swelling and bruising to her face, head, abdomen, back, arms and legs, and a cut above her right eye.

It took more than 13 hours for police to raise an alert about Charlie’s abduction.

Bell dumped her, naked and bleeding, on a Broome street and left. When police attended, Tamica – disorientated, distraught, and unwilling to speak to the officers – was charged with assaulting police after she swore, spat, screamed and waved her arms around.

Her father Ted tried to give baby Charlie to one of the police officers who arrested her. The officer would not take the child, telling Ted to “take the baby away”.

Instead, Charlie was left with two women known to Tamica while Ted followed the police to make sure his daughter was taken to Broome hospital for treatment.

By the time he returned to pick up Charlie, Bell – who was not the child’s father – had already returned and taken him. Upon discovering the child was gone, and having witnessed first hand Bell’s propensity for violence, Ted made multiple visits to the Broome police station to plead for help.

Ted has said he was told that the station was under-resourced and that “there were more pressing matters to be dealt with”.

The $800 it would cost to try to pinpoint Bell’s location through a text message he had sent to Ted was prohibitively expensive; Ted’s offer to pay the $800 himself was dismissed. One of the officers told investigators Ted was intoxicated and aggressive; Ted said he had not touched alcohol in 30 years.

It ultimately took more than 13 hours for police to raise an alert about the abducted child.

That only occurred when Ted’s sister, who worked in child protection, called a homicide squad detective she knew in Perth.

In the meantime, Charlie was being driven almost 1000km from Broome to the Pilbara. During the journey, the child was subjected to the most horrific cruelty.

When Bell finally carried Charlie’s lifeless body into a Pilbara roadhouse, claiming that the child had drowned, he had injuries all over his body. He had suffered burns, broken bones, abrasions, and internal bleeding. The child also had injuries to his genitals and anus indicating sexual assault.

Charlie Mullaley in an image from his Facebook memorial page

The forensic pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination of Charlie was unable to determine an exact cause of death, noting that on top of the other injuries the child could have also suffered heatstroke, hyperthermia and dehydration.

The case shocked not just the public but also the judiciary. Justice John McKechnie, who sentenced Bell to life imprisonment, labelled it “one of the more evil crimes that I have encountered”.

While awaiting trial, Bell was attacked in prison with a hammer.

Bell’s lawyer told his sentencing hearing that his client feared he would be killed in prison. Bell committed suicide in his cell in September 2015.

Even after Charlie’s murder, the conviction and sentencing of Bell, and Bell’s suicide, police pushed ahead with their prosecutions of Tamica and Ted.

Ted was charged and fined for obstructing the officers in trying to prevent his daughter’s arrest.

They were both ultimately found guilty and convicted.

An investigation into the conduct of police by WA’s Corruption and Crime Commission in 2016 found there were a number of points where vital information was not sought, obtained, recorded or passed on by police officers in Broome and Perth.