Toowoomba mum walks free after pleading guilty to repeatedly beating her child

A court heard a Toowoomba child who had nowhere else to turn was subjected to heartbreaking abuse at the hands of her mother, which left her body bruised and bloody.

‘She tried to escape: Toowoomba mum guilty of vile child beatings. Picture: Adobe Stock and Peta McEachern

An 11-year-old girl was subjected to horrific violence at the hands of her mother on numerous occasions over doing chores in what a magistrate has described as abhorrent.

The court heard the woman attacked her daughter because she had not completed household chores and left the young girl’s body covered in bruises, abrasions, scratches, and on some occasions, cuts.

The Toowoomba Chronicle cannot publish the woman’s name to protect the identity of her child.

The Toowoomba courthouse. Picture: NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

Judge Brad Farr SC said the woman’s actions were abhorrent, especially considering her child was vulnerable and had nowhere else to turn.

“You were supposed to protect her,” he told the woman.

“You, given your background, understand the abhorrence of domestic violence – you have inflicted those horrors upon your own child which is a gross breach of trust.

“She was so fearful of you that she expressed her concern to police that you would hunt her down if you found that she had spoken to her police.”

The court heard the woman warned the girl not to say anything about the abuse and told her to hide the bruises under long-sleeved clothing.

When sentencing the woman in May, Judge Farr SC mentioned a particularly distressing set of events that unfolded after the woman told the child, “if the dishes aren’t done, I’m going to belt the f-king hell out of you”.

“She begged you not to go in the kitchen – understandably.

“She tried to escape from you but the screen door was locked.”

Judge Farr SC said the girl was then struck to the head, chest, and arms.

“She began cleaning up the lounge room but you then close the door and curtains so passerbys could not see in,” he said.

The woman used crutches to beat the child, while she attempted to use a pillow to protect herself.

On a different occasion, Judge Farr SC said the woman beat the child with a dish-washing brush.

A Toowoomba court heard a woman subjected her 11-year-old daughter to heartbreaking bouts of violent abuse, which left the child shaken, bruised and bloody, on a number of occasions. Picture: Adobe Stock

“She pleaded with you to stop but you continued hitting her while she was on the ground,” he said.

“She used her hands to shield herself. Eventually, you stopped using the brush and used a thong.

“After… she saw she had blood on her face and had the presence of mind to take a video of herself which showed a cut on her forehead and scratches on her hands and arms.

During a different assault, the court heard the woman pushed her daughter onto a bed, before covering and pressing down on her mouth and nose with so much force the girl thought her nose would break.

Another time, the woman grabbed the girl by the hair and pushed her head into a wall before hitting her in the face.

On May 11, the woman pleaded guilty to three counts of common assault, one count of assault occasioning bodily harm, and three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm while armed, and was sentenced to a 12 month suspended jail term.

The court heard woman, who hoped to be a nurse, no longer had custody of her daughter, however she was trying to re-gain custody after making an effort to complete a number of domestic violence courses and counselling.