Starving Floreat teen’s mum ‘refused to leave’ hospital after interfering, around-the-clock visits, trial told

A Floreat couple were heavily restricted from visiting their emaciated daughter in hospital after they stayed around the clock and interfered, sparking an “incident”, a court has been told. The girl was about to turn 17 but weighed just 28.1kg when the Department of Communities mandated her admission to Perth Children’s Hospital on April 7, 2021. It came after months of resistance by her parents, the couple’s District Court of WA child abuse trial has been told, but matters then escalated quickly. The following day when her parents refused to accept she needed to get up to at least 40kg -fed via a nasogastric tube and put in a wheelchair to conserve energy - she was placed under the provisional care of the State. Both parents wanted to be there 24/7 but were told only one of them could stay overnight. And six days after the girl’s admission, Denise McNab, a social worker within the hospital’s child protection unit, described a battle she had trying to enforce a 5pm visit cut-off with the mother. Oliver Paxman, representing the woman, alleged Ms McNab “attempted to physically separate” the home-schooled teen and his client as they clung to each other. Mr Paxman put to the witness that she “grabbed” the mother “roughly” and also grabbed the girl by her chin, demanding she look up - causing the distressed child to scream. But Ms McNab said she merely placed a hand on the mum’s shoulder and “tried to tell her in a compassionate way, time was up” because she refused to leave. Ms McNab insisted she only asked the girl to hold her head up while they spoke. The teen was sitting on her mother’s lap, holding her tightly with her hair covering her face, and both were crying, the witness testified. Michael Perrella, the father’s lawyer, pressed the same allegation, suggesting Ms McNab used “force”. She repeatedly refuted the accusation, saying she was simply trying to encourage cooperation, and placed a hand on the mother’s shoulder “in what I thought was a comforting, reassuring way”. Ms McNab rejected Mr Perrella’s suggestion she was frustrated, saying she just wanted “some assistance from the parents in what was in the best interests for their child, and wasn’t happening”. “It took 15 to 20 minutes, but we got there in the end,” she said. The court has previously been told that the parents were interfering in the girl’s treatment, raising objections and making negative comments including whispering to her about the weight of others. They kept switching the TV back to ABC Kids, where the teen would watch shows aimed at children as young as 18 months including Teletubbies, Play School and Bluey, the court has been told. Occupational therapist Gemma Warrington said they encouraged her to sing along and her “mum would lie in bed and read to her”. Ms Warrington said she assessed the girl’s development using a test about everyday tasks and skills in three stages so as not to overwhelm her with “a world she didn’t understand”. The tasks included using a microwave and making a local telephone call, and her basic conversational skills were also rated. The teen’s score placed her in a dismal 0.1 percentile, meaning “99.9 per cent of kids of the same age would do better”. “She needed a lot of scaffolding or prompting from adults,” Ms Warrington said. Her development had been “extremely delayed” due to “a lack of exposure”, being entirely home-schooled, with limited contact with the “outside world”. “She presented like a much younger child,” Ms Warrington said. “She just lacked independence.” The girl had no appreciation that her interests were not age-appropriate, she added, reacting excitedly when her dad brought in a magnetic fishing game as her birthday gift. “It stuck with me because it was so odd,” Ms Warrington said. Her puberty delayed, she had “appeared shocked and horrified” when told about menstruation. Ms McNab described the “child-like” decorations her parents adorned her room with when she turned 17 in hospital - unicorns in white, pink and pastel colours. The trial continues. If you need help or support for an eating disorder or body image issue, please call Butterfly’s National Helpline on 1800 334 673 or e-mail support@butterfly.org.au