Face of Nation : The 44-year-old mother-of-three from Bribie Island, north of Brisbane, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was frustrated at the length of time her husband spent at his job in Darwin in August 2016. She also felt trapped because she was financially dependent, having previously served as a police officer in her native South Africa, the Brisbane Supreme Court was told on Tuesday.
A former policewoman attempted to murder her nine-year-old daughter using barbecue gas because she was angry at her FIFO worker husband, a court has heard. Prosecutor Jodie Woodridge says the woman lured her daughter with a medicine-laced milkshake designed to dull her senses before concocting a tale about the pair having a sleepover in the family’s bathroom for fun.
She laid out a swag in the bathroom and once the girl was asleep she closed the window, closed the door and opened the gas bottle. “When the (girl) woke up she heard a hissing sound and felt the air was moist,” Ms Woodridge said. “(She) was dizzy … Her throat was sore and burning and her muscles were aching.”
The girl asked her mother what the gas bottles were for. “The defendant replied because ‘I’m trying to kill you (girl). I am trying to kill us’,” Ms Woodridge said. The girl asked why but her mother didn’t reply before shutting the valve on the bottle. The woman, who pleaded guilty to attempted murder, will be sentenced on Tuesday and is expected to receive a lengthy jail term.
