A man who laughed and smiled after the remainder of his sentence was suspended after pleading guilty to unlawfully killing a four-year-old boy has outraged the Queensland Premier and prompted the Attorney-General to consider appealing the decision to release him.
After pleading guilty in the Supreme Court in Brisbane yesterday to the manslaughter of Tyrell Cobb, Matthew Ian Scown was sentenced to four years in prison.
Because he had already spent two years and eight months in custody, the remainder of his sentence was suspended and he walked free.
Scown smiled as he was asked questions by reporters leaving court and began laughing when a cameraman stumbled in the media scrum.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the reaction of Scown upon his release yesterday was "completely insensitive".
Asked to respond to anger expressed at Scown's response, she said: "I'm angry too. How insensitive for this man to be laughing after the death of his stepson."
Scown is the former de facto partner of Tyrell's mother, Heidi Strbak, who is also charged with manslaughter.
Tyrell was found unconscious inside an apartment at Biggera Waters on the Gold Coast in 2009 and later died in hospital.
The court heard Tyrell died from an abdominal injury.
Justice Martin Burns told the court it was not suggested Scown knew about or inflicted the fatal blow on the little boy.
Prosecutor Phil McCarthy told the court Scown called triple-0 when Tyrell began vomiting after he was put to bed by his mother and told the operator "it looks like he's going to die".
"He never regained consciousness," he told the court.
"[There was] ... a total of 53 bruises and 17 abrasions."
In sentencing yesterday, Justice Burns said he acknowledged that Scown had asked Ms Strbak to seek medical attention for Tyrell the day he died.
"Clearly you were very worried about the little boy," he said.
"You ought to have acted yourself, regardless of her wishes."
Ms Palaszczuk said the judge "obviously made the decision based on the evidence".
Hetty Johnston from child advocacy group Bravehearts said there was no excuse for ignoring child abuse and people who did not speak up deserved to face harsher penalties.
"If you haven't done it, but you know it's happening and you haven't done anything to stop it, you're as guilty as the perpetrator," she said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-...szczuk-laughing-scown-sentence-review/9041844