Murder accused Jessica Hanbury granted bail

There has been a major step in the case against a Queensland mother accused of murdering her youngest child via reckless indifference. LATEST

Jessica Hanbury was taken into custody on Wednesday 7 February 2024.

A Mackay mother accused of murdering her youngest child via reckless indifference has been granted bail, as her lawyers say there are “certain weaknesses” in the police case.

However Jessica Hanbury, who has been held at the Brisbane Womens Correction Centre since her arrest in early February 2024, is not allowed access to encrypted messaging applications as part of her conditional release.

She and her partner Adam Hanbury are both charged with one count of murder over the death of their two-year-old daughter Diana Hanbury in 2022.

Police alleged Diana, who is the youngest of six children, was already dead when Ms Hanbury took her to Mackay Base Hospital about 8pm December 29.

It is alleged the young girl had been unwell in the days before she was taken to the emergency department where hospital staff tried to resuscitate her.

The charge the parents face comes under the expanded definition of murder that includes reckless indifference.

Police allege Mr and Ms Hanbury, who moved to Mackay in 2020, neglected to get her appropriate medical attention in the lead up to her death.

Jessica Hanbury was taken into custody on Wednesday 7 February 2024

The cause of death has not been released.

After the toddler’s death, police searched the family’s home, which had been declared a crime scene.

Barrister Scott McLennan, for Ms Hanbury, in Mackay Supreme Court on Wednesday applied for her release arguing any risk of bail could be mitigated through strict conditions.

The court heard she had been the primary carer of Diana at the time of her death and there had been no allegations of offending since that time and her arrest.

Crown prosecutor Tiffany Lawrence agreed “it is both an unusual set of circumstances in terms of the offending and (Ms Hanbury) having been charged quite some time after the offending itself”, conceding any bail risk could be mitigated through various conditions.

The Mackay mum of six is charged with the murder of her two-year-old daughter Diana died on Thursday, December 29, 2022.

“She had been in the community without any further charges being laid for a period of time following the death of her daughter … which speaks to the risk of reoffending of that kind,” Mr Lawrence said.

The court heard these included reporting three times a week in Mackay, where she would be living, and restrictions on her mobile phone, the applications she could access on her phone, and electronic devices, including encrypted messaging.

This would mitigate any risk of interfering with witnesses by preventing access to communication police could not detect.

Ms Lawrence said Ms Hanbury had no criminal history and her remaining children were no longer in her care, with one of the bail conditions also prohibiting contact with them.

Ms Hanbury was granted conditions bail by Mackay Supreme Court.

Justice David North requested for Mr McLennan to go over these specific conditions with Ms Hanbury so she fully understood the restrictions of her bail, given the prohibition on encrypted messaging applications had only recently been added.

“It would be unfortunate after the work that’s been done to secure her bail order for things to be undone but because of a slip or an error because of ignorance or not fully appreciating the extent of her obligations,” Justice North said.

Justice North told the court he had carefully considered the application and the fact Ms Hanbury was facing a charge of murder.

“Mr McLennan in his outline identifies certain what he will submit will be weaknesses in the prosecution case giving rise to a reasonable basis for a conclusion that (Ms Hanbury) may well have a prospects of successfully defending the charge,” Justice North said.

“I won’t say anything more about it because it’s a highly contentious matter and matters are still at the pre-trial stage.”

Justice North said it must be appreciated that “no grant of bail can be risk free” but he was persuaded any risks against Ms Hanbury could be “sufficiently ameliorated”.

Bail was granted.

Originally published as Murder accused Jessica Hanbury granted bail