Families want new law on child killers
THE families of two murdered toddlers and a 12- yearold girl are fighting for the State Government to introduce a charge of child murder, claiming existing laws are inadequate.
Three families of Queensland child homicide victims made their pleas in Townsville yesterday, at a community summit held by the Queensland Sentencing and Advisory Council, reviewing the sentencing of child killers.
Shane Burke and Kerry Anne Goodwin’s 18- monthold son Hemi Goodwin-Burke was killed by his babysitter, Matthew James Ireland, in 2015. They put in a submission to the council and said sentences handed down should be harsher to reflect the nature of the crime.
“Our way of trying to get justice for Hemi is to make this change … I don’t get to watch him play in the dirt or watch him go to school. These are the all the things that have been ripped away,” Ms Goodwin tearfully said.
Mr Burke said the system had failed their son. “We need to see murder distinguished between an adult and a child, a child is more vulnerable and can’t fight back or get away,” he said.
John Sandeman and his wife Sue fought to change Queensland’s child abuse reporting laws after their 17month- old grandson Mason Parker was murdered by his mother’s partner in 2011.
Mr Sandeman said he didn’t believe either the State Government had the will or courage to reform the law.
“They haven’t got the guts to do it. The do- gooders will get involved and the government thinks it’s not a vote winner,” he said.
“We need to keep these mongrels inside jails, simple as that.
“I don’t have closure. Every day I think of my little grandson.”
Former Queensland police commissioner Bob Atkinson said the victims’ families needed to be given a platform to have their voices heard.
“It’s really important that the consultation is genuine and the people do have a chance to say what they feel,” he said.
Mr Atkinson said he supported the work of the council, which would present its report to the Attorney- General in October.
Cindy Palmer’s 12- yearold daughter Tiahleigh was murdered, with her body found dumped on the banks of a Gold Coast river in 2015.
Ms Palmer said there was a lack of communication between families and the criminal justice system.
“Families are left in the dark and are treated as if they’re criminals basically,” she said.