As she jailed the couple in January, District Court Judge Linda Black said their gross negligence constituted “wilful blindness of the most extreme kind”.
“A parent that was not neglectful would have taken their daughter to see a medical professional long before you did —it was apparent to everyone around her except the people who professed to love her, and I simply cannot accept you didn’t see it,” she said.
The girl was 14 when this photo was taken.
The mother was handed a five-year jail term, and the father was jailed for 6½ years.
A month later the pair appealed those sentences, arguing they were “a miscarriage of justice” and “manifestly excessive”.
Since then, the woman has applied for bail ahead of her appeal hearing, with a recently published judge’s decision outlining how she believed she was not given a fair trial because she had fallen ill part-way through and asked for the proceedings to be adjourned – a request which was denied.
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“The appellant submits that the ground is so strongly arguable that she would suffer an injustice by being kept in custody prior to the hearing of her appeal,” the court documents state.
The woman was ultimately denied bail.
In his decision, Supreme Court Justice Robert Mazza wrote that he did not believe continuing the woman’s trial during a period of sickness was a reason the appeal would likely be upheld – and nor should it constitute her immediate release from prison.
A doctor’s note was handed to Black during the trial claiming the woman was suffering from a gastro-type illness that was either food poisoning or a contagious stomach bug after she failed to appear in court during proceedings.
After she arrived at court and claimed to be severely unwell and unable to proceed with the trial, Black arranged for her to watch the hearing from a remote room, stating that it was not viable for it to be adjourned as it had already been beset with delays.
The woman’s illness, which saw her repeatedly dry-retching into a vomit bag while sitting in the dock, came as a litany of evidence was put before her and her husband about how unwell their daughter was and their repeated attempts to refute the concerns of onlookers.
During the trial, a GP gave evidence that he held “grave concerns” for the girl after the couple reluctantly took her to be medically assessed, but they refused to take her to the emergency department, stating they were too upset over the death of a cat.
The couple’s appeal hearing is not expected to be held until March next year.
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