Sentence stirs anger
A POLITICAL spat has erupted over the nine-year manslaughter sentence handed to Tyrell Cobb’s mother this week for beating the four-year-old to death.
Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington yesterday called on the state’s Attorney-General to review the sentence, of which 34-yearold Heidi Strbak must serve four years before she is eligible for parole.
“I think that the Attorney-General (Yvette D’Ath) needs to review this decision given the outcry from the community,” she said in Townsville yesterday.
“It appears that this decision certainly doesn’t meet community expectations.”
Ms D’Ath hit back soon after, releasing a statement that warned the new Opposition Leader to “be careful about publicly commenting on court matters”.
“The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Tuesday, December 19, 2017
(ODPP) will review the sentence imposed on Tyrell Cobb’s mother,” she said.
“As Ms Frecklington should know, the ODPP reviews each sentence imposed by the court to consider if the matter should be the subject of appeal.”
Chief Justice Catherine Holmes issued a similar warning at the court’s annual Christmas ceremony last week, asking parliamentarians to “act with restraint”.
Tyrell died in 2009 from severe blunt-force trauma to his abdomen, which the Supreme Court found his mother had inflicted.
After Strbak’s ex-partner, Matthew Scown, was sentenced to four years in jail before the election for failing to provide medical care to the child, the Premier commented on television and a review into sentences for child killers was announced. The Government denied the review was in answer to any particular case.
Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council (QSAC) member Dan Rogers said the review would examine Victorian legislation.
Preliminary submissions to QSAC’s review close on December 24, and the council will host community forums before a consultation paper is released next year.
Submissions already received have overwhelmingly called for legislative overhaul.