WA: Mother's own abuse a factor in killing of baby girl: Judge

AAP General News (Australia)
12-17-2004
WA: Mother's own abuse a factor in killing of baby girl: Judge

By Tim Clarke

PERTH, Dec 17 AAP - Childhood abuse suffered by a woman who fatally shook her four-month-old
daughter had reduced her own ability to care for her child, a WA Supreme Court judge said
today.

Jean Garvey, 25, was today sentenced to five years in prison for the manslaughter of
her infant girl Jessicarose (Jessicarose), who died from brain injuries in July 2003.

The court ordered Garvey be eligible for parole after three years.

WA's Supreme Court heard a catalogue of injuries suffered by the baby at the hands
of her mother, culminating in the fatal brain injuries inflicted on July 4.

Garvey had been due to defend a murder charge in court last month, but admitted the
lesser charge of manslaughter on day one of the trial.

Justice Lindy Jenkins today said it was tragic that Garvey, who was homeless and unemployed,
had not received the community support she needed, despite visits from WA's welfare authorities.

"There are few things that are more of an affront to the senses of decent people than
the violent death of a baby," Justice Jenkins said.

"If there is a lesson to be learnt from the tragedy of Jessicarose's death it is that
as individuals and a community we cannot do too much to support parents and their babies."

The court was told that the state's Department of Community Development had received
three separate reports of abuse of the child, while a GP who saw the baby told Garvey
she was doing a good job as a parent.

The post-mortem examination later revealed a spiral fracture of the arm, three rib
fractures at various stages of healing, a broken collar bone, two leg fractures and three
different brain injuries.

Justice Jenkins said Garvey's own neglected childhood, and the fact she had had no
parental role models herself, reduced her moral culpability for the crime.

"Your upbringing and the circumstances in which you found yourself ... meant your ability
to care for your baby was significantly compromised," Justice Jenkins said.

Garvey's lawyer Sheila Amsden said her client had been let down by welfare authorities.

"Ms Garvey is and was a child of neglect and what is normal behaviour from what she
knows from her background in this case was maltreatment," Ms Amsden said.

"She was always going to be a high-risk mother ... who would appear to have fallen
through the cracks of the welfare system."

Prosecutor Paul Yovich said Garvey had committed "the ultimate breach of trust" by
killing her daughter.

"One can hardly imagine a more terrible thing for a mother to have to face up to than
having killed her child," Mr Yovich said outside court.

"(The case) points to how difficult it is to know when a child is being abused, because
a child can't speak to say what is happening to it."

Justice Jenkins backdated Garvey's sentence to the time of her arrest in September
2003, meaning she could be released from prison in 21 months.

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KEYWORD: GARVEY NIGHTLEAD

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