MAN WHO FATALLY BEAT CHILD, 6, SPENT LAST DAYS OBESE, DISABLED IN PRISON

A NORTH Queensland man who tortured and beat a child to death and escaped from prison to murder a second victim has died in custody, a grossly obese, wheelchair-bound monster with haemorrhoids.

A Coroners Court of Queensland inquest finding delivered in Brisbane on December last year revealed Frank Leslie Burrows died at the age of 58 in late 2016.

That was 52 years older than his first victim, Luke Trow, an almost completely forgotten six-year-old boy who died in agony in tragic and preventable circumstances in Ingham in 1998.

A Herbert River Express newspaper article from 1998 recounts details of the horrific death a decade earlier, and calls from Luke’s former foster parents, Jim and Jenny Ransom, formerly of Ingham, for someone to take care of the boy’s neglected grave.

The article says Luke was beaten to death with a garden hose in his Cockrell St home by B u r r o w s , his mother’s de facto partner.

“According to those who attended the crime scene, the child was found lying naked and s u f f e r i n g from horrific injuries,” the article reads. “Six-year-old Luke died after his liver was split by a blow from a blunt object, which caused him to lose two thirds of his total blood volume.

“And while 120 individual injuries were found on his skin, only half of those were revealed to be fresh injuries.”

Mrs Ransom told the Express that even before she had given up Luke to his heavily pregnant mother weeks before his death she had noticed bruising.

“I told the Department of Family Services in Townsville and their comment was that his case would end in tragedy,” she said. “Luke was dead three weeks later.”

Mrs Ransom said she did not blame the social workers for the death but believed the department, “as a whole”, should have been held accountable.

She said they only had Luke for three months, saying she was disgusted by the bag of clothes the little boy brought with him. “They were so dirty, I wouldn’t even let m my dog lay down o n t h e m , ” she said. S h e told the p a p e r t that even 10 years on, she a and her f a m i l y w e r e haunted by the event.

“He begged me not to let them take him, and my kids still ask me why I let him go,” she said.

“If you beat an animal, they take it away and don’t give it back. If only they could have done that for Luke.”

As is always the case with people in need, the Hinchinbrook community rallied together to help pay for Luke’s final resting place in the New Ingham Cemetery.

During a visit to the grave on Wednesday afternoon, a council worker revealed Luke had visitors six years ago, and then again “this morning”.

Placed on the grave was a eulogy for Owen Thomas Trow, Luke’s natural father, a New Zealand immigrant who was born in March, 1961 and died near Cairns on May 18.

“He had three children with his wife, Luke, Troy and Amy-jean,” it reads.

“After the passing of his eldest son Luke and the breakdown of his marriage, Owen travelled to the Atherton Tablelands in search of work.”

The Express article said Burrows, meanwhile, had been convicted of murder and jailed for life but fled Woodford Correctional Centre near Brisbane to Townsville while on day release in September 1995.

him head.”

He was jailed for life a second time. Detective Senior Constable Mcgregor from the Queensland Police Service Corrective Services Investigations Unit led an investigation into Burrows’ death in the custody of the Townsville Correctional Centre.

State Coroner Terry Ryan, in his report, stated that Burrows, who was born in Papua New Guinea, had an extensive medical history, including morbid obesity, rectal bleeding and internal haemorrhoids.

“He had been largely wheelchair-bound for several years prior to his death.”

Burrows died of natural causes, Mr Ryan concluded. five

“J u s t eight months later, he tortured a 29-year-old man with an iron bar before shooting times in the back of the