Crystal Hanley confronted in court after horrific neglect death of six year old daughter Charlie
The evil mother who neglected her six-year-old daughter so badly she starved to death has been confronted in court. See the horror house. Warning: graphic content
**WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Six-year-old Charlie Nowland was found filthy and with a horrific lice infestation after she starved to death because of her mother’s shocking neglect.
Crystal Leanne Hanley, 49, was confronted by those who were left traumatised by her monstrous actions.
Charlie died in hospital on July 15, 2022, after being found unresponsive at the family home.
Hanley sobbed uncontrollably and rocked back and forth in the dock as victim impact statements were read to the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
One of Charlie’s sisters said she was angry all the time because of Hanley.
“You took so much from us, but we are stronger than you think and we will be OK, not because of you,” she said in her statement read by prosecutor Kos Lesses.
“We should have had a mum to look after us but instead we had to look after ourselves and our brothers and sister and now she is gone.”
Charlie’s other sister said she didn’t hate Hanley but didn’t like her either.
“You were selfish and all you cared about was drugs, when you should have cared about us,” she said.
Sergeant Haydn Evans, one of the police officers who attended the scene on the day of Charlie’s death, said it changed his life forever and left him with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I’ll never forget that night, no child should ever have to suffer the way Charlie did,” he said.
“I can still vividly see Charlie’s lifeless body on the hospital bed.
“I can still smell the house and the appalling state it was in.”
Angela Dente, a registered nurse in the emergency department, said she attempted CPR on Charlie when she was brought in.
“I kept looking at her little sweet face,” she said.
“I was shocked to be told that what I thought was dried up vomit strewn through her hair … was in fact a head full of lice eggs.”
Ms Dente said washing Charlie after she died was “in vain” as she had “caked-on dirt” on her hands and feet.
“The vision of zipping up that bag was gut wrenching and still plays in my mind,” she said.
Ms Dente said she lost her passion for pediatrics and left her job shortly after.
“Rest peacefully with the angels, little sweet Charlie,” she said.
The horrific neglect revealed
Mr Lesses told the court Charlie died from cardiac failure, stemming from severe malnourishment.
The court heard Charlie, who weighed only 18 kgs at the time of her death, was seen in a video taken on her 6th birthday weeks earlier.
“She looked pale, she appeared unable to get up and she appeared to be breathing rapidly,” Mr Lesses said.
The court heard Charlie had never been enrolled in school at the time of her death.
Hanley pleaded guilty to three counts of criminal neglect – with a manslaughter charge being withdrawn as a result.
The court heard in a prison call to Hanley’s partner, John Nowland, Charlie could be heard crying out: “my legs are killing me”, with Hanley responding “shut up”.
Mr Lesses said Hanley also joked with Nowland that Charlie had “cankles”, telling him “she’s a d***head and she won’t walk”.
“The defendant repeatedly lied and obfuscated to people about getting medical attention for Charlie,” he said.
“Charlie was in a physically deplorable state when she was taken to the hospital.”
Mr Lesses said Hanley’s other children were examined on the day of Charlie’s death, with several of them also found to have horrific lice infestation problems.
The court heard the Munno Para family home was found in a “deplorable and disgusting” state, with cat faeces in the shower.
Chris Kummerow, for Hanley, told the court his client was not a perfect but was a “much more capable parent” before a horrific domestic violence incident in January 2021.
The court heard Hanley’s partner and Charlie’s father, John Nowland stabbed Hanley in the back of the neck, while yelling that he was going to kill her.
A neighbour tried to pull Nowland away during the attack, which was witnessed by their children, but he stabbed Hanley again to the neck and once to the thigh.
Nowland, who pleaded guilty to causing harm with intent, was jailed for more than five years in 2022.
Mr Kummerow said Hanley developed PTSD after the stabbing and started using methamphetamine daily, leading to her being unable to care for her children.
“Ms Hanley is a person who is obviously going to carry the pain of her failings as a parent,” he said.
“In some ways that is probably the worst punishment that anyone could face.”
Mr Kummerow read out a letter from Hanley, who apologised to Charlie and her other children for failing them and not protecting them.
Justice Sandi McDonald adjourned the case for further submissions at a later date.
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Originally published as Crystal Hanley confronted in court after horrific neglect death of six year old daughter Charlie
