Mother: I didn’t kill my Tyrell
THE pursuit of justice for Tyrell Cobb has descended into finger-pointing between his mother and her ex-boyfriend as to who caused the horrific injuries that killed the fouryear-old boy.
Heidi Strbak’s barrister told the Supreme Court yesterday that there was not enough evidence to back prosecution claims the 34-year-old inflicted the fatal blow to her little boy’s stomach in 2009, and she was only guilty of not taking him to a doctor.
If Justice Peter Applegarth accepts Strbak’s case, it raises the possibility that no one may be held responsible for delivering the lethal blow after her exboyfriend Matthew Scown also denied hitting the child when he pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month and controversially walked from court.
He was given a four-year jail term for failing to provide medical care, and will be a key witness in the case against Strbak as she also battles for a less severe sentence on the grounds of criminal negligence after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Her barrister Greg McGuire told the sentencing hearing that witnesses, including Tyrell’s father, would claim that the boy complained of Scown “punching him in the stomach” and “slapping his head” before his death at a Gold Coast unit on May 24, 2009.
The sentencing hearing continues today.