AUSTRALIA Cases

Baby bashed to death

NADJA HAINKE

October 28th, 2009

THE crumpled body of a six-week-old baby was rushed to Royal Darwin Hospital yesterday but he was declared dead on arrival.

The bloodied little boy had been bashed.

His death follows a series of recent suspected child abuse cases.

NT Child Protection Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said yesterday her "primary concern is what has been raised about (these) children in the media".

Ms McCarthy rejected mounting concerns that the system was failing vulnerable children yesterday.

Paramedics desperately tried to revive the tiny boy in an ambulance before he was pronounced dead at the hospital's emergency department at 4.50am.

It is understood he was "blue in colour" and was not breathing when ambulance officers picked him up from a northern suburbs house.

But St John deputy operations manager Craig Garraway told the Northern Territory News he could not confirm claims the boy was covered in blood.

"But that would be reasonably normal with cardiac arrest," he said.

The boy's family is understood to be known to child protection services.

NT police major crime detectives are now investigating the death and an autopsy is under way.

Hospital general manager Alan Wilson and Justice Department spokeswoman Leanne Coleman released statements saying the Coroner would investigate the death.

The baby's death came on the same day as it was revealed that child protection workers did nothing after Royal Darwin Hospital director of pediatrics Dr Paul Bauert sent them a letter warning a child would starve to death if they failed to act.

The letter was leaked to the NT News.

Several other suspected Territory child abuse cases have surfaced since Friday.

"The time for evasion and denial is over," Opposition child abuse spokeswoman Jodeen Carney said. "We can and we must do much better at protecting the most vulnerable members of our society."

While refusing to talk about the details of the cases, Ms McCarthy admitted more funding was needed.

Baby in pram pulled from Brisbane River From: AAP October 21, 2010 4:43PM

A PASSERS-BY has dragged a baby strapped in his pram from the Brisbane River in the city's centre.
It is not yet known how the boy came to be in the water near Little Stanley Street at South Bank just after 1pm (AEST) today.

Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics responded to the emergency but, police said, a passer-by had managed to save the child.

A Department of Community Safety spokesman said it was not known how the young boy came to be in the river.
Paramedics treated the boy then took him in a stable condition to the Royal Children's Hospital as a precaution.

No further details are available.

Family removed from house at centre of Adelaide neglect case

FOURTEEN children and three adults have been removed from a Housing Trust property at the centre of a child neglect investigation that has shocked South Australia.
Families SA social workers, Housing SA officers and Elizabeth CIB detectives converged on the three-bedroom Parafield Gardens house at 4pm before removing its occupants in a 20-minute operation.

Teenagers and toddlers covered with blankets and clothing were walked to two Toyota Tarago vans parked on the house's front lawn while three male adults and one female adult were placed into Toyota Camry sedans.

A private security officer was positioned at the property's front door during the operation, which also included the removal of 12 rabbits.

The removal of the children was welcomed by neighbours, who have been complaining about the large number of people living in the house over the past two years.



One woman, who asked not to be named, said it was "amazing" that, after months of inaction by Housing SA, "they have suddenly found somewhere for them after the Minister (Jay Weatherill) only said on radio this morning it would take another three months".

"I'm just so glad they've been taken somewhere else, anywhere would have been better than staying in there," she said.

The woman yesterday spent 10 minutes inside the house, later telling The Advertiser it was in a filfthy condition, with human excrement smeared on walls and floors, no furniture, no appliances, no bedding and bare floors.

"I just can't believe how, after all the complaints made to Housing SA, that they were taken away from there on Sunday night, then brought back and allowed to stay there again when they must have known how appalling it was inside," she said.

"Thank God they're finally removed them. All I have ever worried about is those poor children and what they have been living amongst.

"They couldn't have stayed there, they just couldn't. I just hope now they are going somewhere decent where they will be happy."

Residents hid dogs in 'pigsty'

Earlier, the tenants today admitted hiding five dogs from the RSPCA, which today described their living conditions as a "pigsty".

The animal welfare organisation late this morning returned to the three-bedroom Parafield Gardens house after receving reports it contained more animals than previously believed.

The visit to the house - which has been occupied by up to six adults and 21 children in recent months - followed an inspection on Tuesday, during which two stray dogs were removed by the RSPCA for flea and worm infestation treatment.

The RSCPA officer who conducted yesterday's inspection today found two female Maltese shitzu puppies which a pet shop owner said he sold on Monday, two female Staffordshire-chihuahuas and an English bulldog, which were examined and deemed to be good health.

RSPCA spokesperson Aimee McKay said the dogs and a fishtank with a walking fish and numerous goldfish had been "hidden" during the inspection on Monday.

Asked by The Advertiser if this meant they had been deliberately concealed, Ms McKay said: "You could say that."

"We didn't have access to the inside of the property yesterday as we needed a warrant, which we didn't have. We asked how many animals there were and we told there were the only two stray dogs," she said.

"We then received information that there were more animals and we called them and they co-operated.

"We were certainly misled on the number of animals."

Ms McKay said the living conditions for the animals in the house's backyard, which contains a large amount of rubbish and junk, were unsatisfactory.

"With the amount of debris and litter that there is, I think a lot of people would describe it (the backyard) as a pigsty," she said.

Ms McKay said the RSCPA inspector had provided advice to the house's occupants on how to care for the animals, which were permitted to remain.

Woman living in the house charged with neglect

Families SA yesterday visited the Parafield Gardens home just hours after one of its occupants, a pregnant mother of seven, 28, appeared in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court charged with multiple counts of child neglect.

The woman – who was evicted three years ago from public housing interstate following complaints from neighbours – moved into the house three months ago at the invitation of her sister-in-law, 35, a pregnant mother of 12 who moved to SA from Victoria with her partner two years ago.

Four adults are now in the house – the charged woman's sister-in-law, her brother and their respective partners.

Six of the woman's children last night remained in a stable condition at the Women's and Children's Hospital, where they were taken for treatment following police raids on the property and another house at Elizabeth Grove on Sunday night.

UPDATE>>>>
Starved, beaten boy could have died: doctor

Updated October 13, 2010 09:34:00


The court has released images from a house where the alleged neglect happened (ABC News)

One of five Victorian children allegedly starved and beaten in Adelaide's northern suburbs could have died if he had not been taken to hospital, the South Australian Supreme Court has been told.

Emergency doctor Cathrin Parsch told the court the five-year-old boy was unconscious and his body temperature was 26 degrees when he arrived at the Lyell McEwin hospital in 2008.

She said he was put into a neonatal crib to warm him up.

Dr Parsch said the boy was the sickest child she had seen in her 18 years as a doctor.

She said he may have died that night or suffered permanent brain damage if he had not been treated.

Dr Parsch also treated the boy's twin brother who had a dead beetle removed from his ear canal.

Three men and three women are accused of abuse.

The men are on trial.

A court has heard some of the children involved in neglect at this house had their hands and feet bound with tape. (ABC News)

Neglected and abused kids 'wolfed' down dog food to survive
FIVE children looked like they were from a famine-struck Third World country after being deprived of adequate food for months a court heard yesterday.
The children, who had been living in a cramped, cockroach-infested Adelaide home, came to the attention of South Australian authorities when their mother took one of the children, a five-year-old boy, to hospital and he was found to be hypothermic and malnourished. He weighed only 14kg and had open sores on his legs and multiple bruises.

Three men pleaded not guilty in the South Australian Supreme Court yesterday to child neglect charges relating to the five children, in a case judge Kevin Duggan warned the jury would be "quite unpleasant".

Crown prosecutor Brian Nitschke told the jury in his opening address it was alleged three men and three women, all of whom cannot be named to protect the identities of the children, deprived the children of adequate food between February and June 2008. "These five children went from healthy looking children to looking like children from a famine-affected Third World country," he said. 'It's alleged that these children were subjected to a cruel regime while in the house."

.
Mr Nitschke said the regime included the five children, four boys and a girl aged between seven and four, being forced to stand in a line against a wall for hours on end and allowed to eat only leftover food after others in the house, including the adults and 16 other children, had eaten.

He said if a child "broke out" of the line to snatch food, an adult would grab the child around the throat and choke them so they could not swallow.

The jury also heard a visitor to the house would testify the children were offered dog food if they were hungry, which they "wolfed down". The jury was told the mother of the five children was sentenced to six years in jail last week. One of the men on trial is the father of the five children



THIS IS VERY SAD THAT IT TOOK THIS LONG FOR THE DEPARTMENT TO GET INVOLVED..
I hope these poor children can recover from this horrible abuse.....

Pictures of house of horrors.............http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/galleries/gallery-e6frecgc-1225937816697?page=2




What a lovely family !!!! These poor children had to live in this filth plus endure beatings, being deprived of food and being treated like animals. i hope justice is served !! And these children can find happy and loving familys to care for them.

Starving kids 'weren't my problem',

Neglect case jury hears Jordanna Schriever, Court Reporter From: AdelaideNow October 25, 2010 3:29PM

A MAN accused of starving and choking five emaciated children has told a Supreme Court jury "it wasn't my responsibility" to care for the siblings.
The man, then the partner of the children's mother, today told the jury he took responsibility only for his own toddler son.

Under cross examination, the man agreed he had made a positive decision not to contact authorities about the children's welfare.

"I turned a blind eye to it... I didn't really realise that it was going on."

"I had always been told never to be involved with welfare... that was how I was brought up.

"I had always been told if welfare or Families SA got involved you would never see your children again."

Prosecutors have alleged the siblings were starved in a northern suburbs house which housed more than 20 people, including six adults, between February and June 2008.

Today, the man said he had only noticed how emaciated the children were in the days before they were admitted to hospital.

"I knew that it was bad, but I didn't know how bad," he said.

"It was probably a couple of days before that I was sort of like `oh s-t', how bad they were."

He said he would never have allowed his own son, who also lived in the house, to be starved.

"It wouldn't have happened," he said.

He said it was the responsibility of the children's mother and father to feed the siblings "because they were their children.

"It wasn't my responsibility to deal with those children," he said.

The court has heard the children were punished and made to stand in line all day every day, because another woman - the partner of the children's father - had masterminded the "cruel regime".

The court has heard each of the five children suffered scabies and malnutrition and were emaciated.

Today, the man told the court he had told the children's mother they needed to be better fed, then "washed his hands" of her and her children.

He said he had originally moved into the house for a "fresh start" with the children's mother and had intended to move out, but housing waiting lists were long and he did not have enough references to apply for a private rental.

He denied choking the children and said he only ordered them into line "to stop them from getting into more trouble".

He and two other men have each pleaded not guilty to counts of aggravated acts endangering life, criminal neglect and aggravated acts creating risk of serious harm.

The two co-accused men - including the children's father - elected not to call any witnesses to rebut allegations they starved the five children.

That announcement means prosecutors have been "put to proof" and the jury must decide whether the case against the men has been proved beyond reasonable doubt.

The jury will hear closing submissions tomorrow.



House of Horrors adults named by Supreme Court of South Australia

• From: AdelaideNow
  
• November 03, 2010 3:21PM
  

• THE identities of three men and a woman who bound, starved, punished and neglected five innocent children in an Adelaide home can finally be revealed.
  

Supreme Court Justice Kevin Duggan today said there was no longer any reason the names of Luke Andrew Armistead, Robert Armistead, Michael Benjamin Quinlivan and Tania Marie Staker should be obscured.
Armistead, Armistead and Quinlivan were last week found guilty, by a jury, of two counts each of aggravated acts to endanger life, and three counts each of aggravated acts creating a risk of serious harm.
Staker - the mastermind of the cruel regime - pleaded guilty to the same charges prior to trial.
Although no suppression orders had been placed on the group's identities, AdelaideNow chose not to name them so as to ensure the trial proceeded without impediment.
Today, Justice Duggan commended the media on their approach to the difficult case.
"The media have, quite properly, taken a careful attitude towards this matter," he said.
"But I think the court should now say something to indicate that publication of the names of these prisoners will not identify the victims."
Staker and the men committed their crimes in a northern suburbs home between February and June 2008.
They were among 20 adults and children who lived in the house.
During the trial, the jury heard Staker masterminded "a cruel regime" to punish the children.
They had been fathered by her then-partner, Luke Armistead, and another woman - whose identity is suppressed to protect the children.
That woman subsequently had a relationship with Michael Quinlivan, who also lived in the house.
Staker and Quinlivan are siblings, while Robert Armistead is Luke Armistead's former step-father.
The children suffered starvation, malnutrition, emaciation and scabies.
Authorities became aware of the situation when one child was taken to hospital with a head injury and severe hypothermia.
During the trial, jurors heard the children survived on chips and noodles when they were permitted to eat.
One day, they were given dog food and told "if you're hungry, eat this".
The children's mother - who also pleaded guilty to criminal neglect - said she lived in fear of Staker, claiming to be "numb" because of her own dysfunctional childhood.
One of the five children, who gave evidence before the jury, said they were fed enough to keep them alive "but not that much".



Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/house-of-horrors-adults-named-by-supreme-court-of-south-australia/story-e6frfku0-1225947344423?from=public_rss#ixzz14C4fGLWb

Couple jailed for sex with son aged nine October 15, 2010
.A married Sydney couple have been jailed for "disturbing" sex crimes against their nine-year-old son.

The man, 57, and woman, 49, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the boy between January and November 2009 at their suburban Sydney home.

The father has also admitted streaming footage online of his wife and son engaging in sex acts.

Advertisement: Story continues below At Sydney's Downing Centre District Court today, Judge Anthony Garling sentenced the man to serve a minimum of nine years' jail.

With time already served, he will be eligible for release in November 2018.

"This man was sexually abusing his son and I have no doubt he was doing it for his own sexual gratification," Judge Garling said.

The man pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual intercourse with his son and two counts of committing an indecent act, as well as using the boy for child pornographic purposes, indecently assaulting him, possessing child pornography and using the internet to offend.

The offences included performing oral sex on the child, "massaging" his penis and having the boy do the same to him.

"It is hard to imagine a greater breach of trust than what the male offender has committed," Judge Garling said.

"This is his son, who was entitled to be protected by his father, not abused by him."

The woman was sentenced to serve at least three years and nine months in jail after pleading guilty to sexual intercourse with her son and two counts of committing an act of indecency.

The offences included the mother performing oral sex on her child.

She will be eligible for release on parole in August 2013, taking into account time already served in custody.

"[The woman's] attitude to these offences is almost unbelievable," Judge Garling said.

"She blames her husband and I am satisfied that he did have some domination over her. However, she seems to believe it is acceptable to carry out sexual acts with her nine-year-old son.

"She, like her husband, seemed to think that if her son did not protest at the age of nine, he is consenting and indeed enjoying it.

"If that attitude is true, it is disturbing to find parents with that attitude in our community."

Judge Garling found the boy, who is now in the care of DOCS, had suffered "significant emotional harm" as a result of the abuse.

The court has been told previously that the woman intends to divorce the man and wants to have nothing more to do with him.

Sister attack ends in jail
EMILY WATKINS | November 2nd, 2010

Man who attacked sister for being a 'slut' is denied bail
A MAN who bashed his teenaged sister because she was breaking their family's cultural beliefs by running off with her boyfriend has been sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Ahmed Al-Tai, 21, pleaded guilty to breaking into the house his sister, 16, was staying in and launching a sustained attack on her while their mother watched.

Darwin Magistrates Court heard that Al-Tai was living in Broome at the time, and their mother called him to come home to bring his sister back home.

The court heard that their mother watched as Al-Tai punched and stomped on the girl, knocking one of her teeth out before dragging her to the car by her hair.

Their mother took him to the hospital for his injuries, but took the girl home and told her to wash her face and make up a story for the hospital staff before taking her for treatment.

Al-Tai's lawyer Gus Bernardi yesterday told the court the family came as refugees from Iraq, and that they had a difficult time settling in with no support.

Mr Bernardi said Al-Tai's mother had trouble settling into Australian life, and was frightened her daughter would lose her virginity and put any marriage engagement into jeopardy.

Mr Bernardi said Al-Tai loved his sister, and had acted out of emotion.

In sentencing, Chief Magistrate Hilary Hannam said the assault was serious.

"It's very, very concerning that there continues to be some form of suggestion that your behaviour is in anyway acceptable because of your cultural beliefs," Ms Hannam said. "The vast majority (of refugees) settle here as law-abiding citizens ... and accept that the law applies to all people and the protection of the law is something all Australians, regardless of their backgrounds, are entitled to."

Mum who murdered kids appeals 'unreasonable' conviction

Amelia Bentley

November 8, 2010 - 12:20PM

A woman convicted of murdering two of her children by gassing them to death in the family car is appealing her ''unreasonable'' conviction and sentence. The woman, who cannot be named as it would identify her surviving son, was jailed for life earlier this year after jurors found her guilty of murdering her 10-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son.

She was also found guilty of the attempted murder of her 16-year-old disabled son, who managed to escape the garage of the family's Bribie Island home where the mother had set up a hose from her car exhaust pipe through the window of her sedan.

Before the November 2002 murders, the mother crushed sedatives in the children's milk then told them they were going for a drive.

The dead children's bodies were not found for several days. During a trial in Brisbane Supreme Court earlier this year, the woman pleaded not guilty to the charges. Her lawyers argued her capacity to control herself - and to know what she was doing was wrong - was substantially impaired by mental health issues.

Prosecutors argued the woman was motivated by revenge against her ex-husband, the children's father, with whom she was battling in the Family Court over custody.

In the Court of Appeal in Brisbane this morning lawyers for the mother argued jurors may have given more weight in their deliberations to a psychiatrist who revealed in her evidence that she had been retained by an ''independent authority'' to assess the woman.

The independent authority was the Mental Health Court, where the woman's case had been examined before it was moved to the Queensland Supreme Court earlier this year.

Defence barrister Michael Byrne QC said the reference to the Mental Health Court and the witness's status as being retained by a court, not prosecution or defence, could have swayed jurors against his client. "That in our submission leads to gross unfairness in this case," he said.

Mr Byrne also argued the murder verdicts were unreasonable on the evidence. Alternatively, convictions for manslaughter would have resulted in a sentence of between eight and 12 years, he said.

The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision.

Thought it would be nice to post this ,with all the sad stories we have this is one to brighten up your day.

Young hero, 6, calls 000 to save unconscious mother A QUICK-THINKING six-year-old has been hailed a hero after he found his mother lying unconscious and potentially saved her life by calling an ambulance.
Jyles Coad-Ward even gave paramedics detailed directions to his family's Claremont house so they wouldn't get lost. And the resourceful boy kept calm despite the emergency unfolding about 1am.
His heroism will be recognised by St John Ambulance at its annual bravery awards next month.

Jyles said his message to other youngsters who faced an emergency was simple: "Keep calm and keep cool."

His mother Samantha was knocked unconscious after she tripped and fell down the stairs in their home on April 29. Jyles only woke because of a nightmare. He went to find his mother and discovered her unconscious at the bottom of the stairs.

"I had smashed my head on the ground," Mrs Coad-Ward, 44, said. "I was knocked out cold and blood was rushing to my head. The doctors told me that if Jyles didn't find me, I could have died from a haemorrhage."

Jyles ran downstairs and checked her pulse.

"I thought she was alive, but she might have brain damage," Jyles, now seven, said. "I was scared for Mum, but I had been taught what to do at school."

He rang 000 from his parents' bedroom.

"I gave them directions and spelt the address for them," he said. "I told them what our house looked like so they wouldn't get lost."

He stayed by his mother's side while he waited for paramedics to arrive.

Mrs Coad-Ward said she could remember becoming conscious for a brief moment during this period.

"Jyles was patting me on the back telling me everything was going to be OK," she said.

Once paramedics arrived, Jyles found his mother's mobile phone and rang her parents and best friend.

"I told them Mum was hurt," he said. "The ambulance took my mum to the hospital and I got to sit in the front seat."

Mrs Coad-Ward was kept at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital overnight and head scans revealed internal bleeding. She recovered fully after a few weeks at home resting.

Not surprisingly Jyles was by her side the whole time, making sure she was OK.

"By calling the ambulance that night he saved my life," Mrs Coad-Ward said. "If I had been unconscious without help for hours I could be dead."

Jyles was an "exceptional son".

"He's very resourceful. He's great with the computer and fixing things. He's always been very mature for his age," she said.

Jyles is due to receive the St John's Special Commendation, which is awarded for "meritorious conduct under stressful or difficult conditions", on December 2.

"Jyles is a remarkable young boy," St John's chief executive Tony Ahern said.

" (We are) extremely proud to award the St John Ambulance Special Commendation to Jyles for the fantastic job he did in rescuing his mum."

Man charged with murder attempt on toddler November 19, 2010
.AAP

A man has been charged with attempting to murder a toddler on the NSW south coast.

Police and ambulance were called to a house in Rickard Road, Unanderra, at 2.30pm (AEDT) on Thursday after a 23-month-old girl was found unconscious and not breathing.

The girl, who had a head injury, was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to Wollongong Hospital.

Advertisement: Story continues below She was later airlifted to Sydney Children's Hospital, Randick, where she remains in a critical condition.

A 26-year-old man was arrested at the house and a crime scene established.

The man has been charged with attempted murder and refused bail.

He is due to appear in Wollongong Local Court on Friday.

Parents of paraplegic toddler charged

From: AAP November 28, 2010 2:16PM THE parents of a toddler left a paraplegic after he was unrestrained in the family car when it was involved in a crash have been charged with criminal neglect of a child.

Police say the boy was allegedly sitting on the lap of his 50-year-old mother on the back seat of the car when the collision occurred in April on Angle Vale Road at Hillier.

It is the first time the charge of criminal neglect has been laid in circumstances relating to restraining a child in a car.

In a statement today police said on April 15, 2010 a Toyota sedan being driven by a 54-year-old Munno Para man crossed onto the incorrect side of the Angle Vale Road while travelling around a left bend and collided head-on with another car.

"It will be alleged that at the time of the crash, the driver's wife, a 50-year-old woman, was sitting in the backseat of the Toyota, holding their two-year-old son," police said.



"The boy was not properly restrained in an approved child restraint and severely damaged his spine in the crash, the result of which means he is now a paraplegic with no active movement in his lower limbs."

As a result of the police investigation since the crash, both the mother and father of the boy have been summonsed to appear in Elizabeth Magistrate's Court on December 9, 2010 to answer a charge of criminal neglect of a child.

The father also faces a charge of aggravated driving without due care.

Police said the criminal neglect offence carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment where a child is seriously injured.

Superintendent Linda Fellows said on Sunday the charge of criminal neglect of a child is usually used in child neglect or abuse cases and this is the first time it has been applied in relation to restraining a child in a car.

At the time of the accident it was required that a toddler be appropriately restrained in a car.

Since then tougher child restraint laws have been introduced in South Australia - with the law demanding children be appropriately restrained up to age seven.

Infants up to six months old must be restrained in a rearward facing child restraint, while children aged between six months and four years must be restrained in either an approved rearward facing restraint or forward facing child restraint with inbuilt harness.

Children aged between four and seven years of age must be seated in a forward facing child restraint or approved booster seat.

In the first two weeks of November police targeted people failing to wear seatbelts, with 901 expiation notices issued.

Of those, 39 related to children under the age of 16 years.

During 2009, 23 of the people killed in road crashes on South Australian roads were not wearing a seatbelt.



Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/parents-of-paraplegic-toddler-charged/story-e6frfku0-1225962274544#ixzz16ZcXkv3H

THE parents of a toddler left a paraplegic after he was unrestrained in the family car when it was involved in a crash have been charged with criminal neglect of a child.

Police say the boy was allegedly sitting on the lap of his 50-year-old mother on the back seat of the car when the collision occurred in April on Angle Vale Road at Hillier.

It is the first time the charge of criminal neglect has been laid in circumstances relating to restraining a child in a car.

---I have mixed emotions about this, and yet, legally they are correct and proper in charging the caregivers.
The parents will feel bad enough, an certainly will be reminded every day~ through his care. If this charge was made in these types of cases more often, perhaps it will be a lesson to others not to be careless.

I have to agree with you Tom.
These parents will look at there child everyday and be reminded that there negligence has caused this.

AN INQUEST into the death of an eight-year-old boy found floating in a water hole will begin in Borroloola today.Officer in Charge Joedy Kitchen will be the first of the 29 witnesses to give evidence at Kieffen Raggett's inquest.She will be followed by family members May, Clarence and Adrianne Raggett.Kieffen's body was found 1km from Borroloola, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, on October 4, 2007. He had a small cut to his forehead and was dressed only in shorts.A child-sized red Manchester jersey was found floating in the shallow waterhole nearby.


He went missing two days earlier and was last seen playing with a group of children.The cause of his death was never released so as not to compromise the police investigation.Recently an internal police review raised questions about the initial detective work.In response to that six Darwin detectives were sent to Borroloola last month to re-interview witnesses and look for further evidence.At Borroloola NT Coroner Greg Cavanagh will visit the residential subdivision where Kieffen's body was found.The inquest will continue at Borroloola tomorrow before being moved to Darwin.It will then be adjourned to January.