Coroner’s findings on deaths

THE Child Safety Service did not cause the death of a 16year-old and her baby, but the agency was found to have “very significant defects”, a coroner has found.

Coroner Olivia McTaggart shared the findings on Friday in the Hobart Coroner’s Court.

During the three-day inquest in August last year, the court heard the teenage mother and her baby boy died in a road crash in 2016.

Child protection expert witness Professor Bob Lonne said at the time the driver, who was the young mother’s boyfriend, was an “angry young man” who had difficulty controlling his behaviour.

The professor had argued the agency should have intervened to separate the mother and child from the young male.

Ms McTaggart offered her condolences to the family of the deceased in court on Friday. She said the child protection agency’s performance did not cause or contribute to the deaths, but said “there were very significant defects and issues with child protection practice” in relation to the two youths. The coroner’s full findings will be published in the coming days.