A social media influencer who allegedly drugged her baby for donations has had her case delayed due to pending DNA evidence after the prosecution tendered a huge evidence brief.
The 34-year-old Sunshine Coast mother is alleged to have poisoned the infant over the course of several months while obtaining social media notoriety and financial gain from claims the child was battling a potentially fatal illness.
The case has so many medical documents the woman’s solicitor has had to hire specialist staff, a magistrate has heard.
She was charged with five counts of administering poison with intent to harm, three counts of preparation to commit crimes with dangerous things, a single count each of torture, making child exploitation material and fraud.
Police have alleged the woman –who cannot be named for legal reasons – earned more than $60,000 from a GoFundMe campaign to ‘assist’ her child. That money has since been refunded to donors.
They also alleged the woman went to great lengths to obtain unauthorised and prescription medications to give her child.
She allegedly covered for the alleged actions by using leftover medicine for another member of the household.
The alleged abuse was detected on October 15, 2024 after the girl was admitted to a Brisbane hospital suffering a serious medical episode.
A Sunshine Coast mother (above) stands accused of poisoning her daughter and collecting donations for her ‘terminal illness’ in the Brisbane Magistrate’s Court
The mother’s (above, at the time of her arrest) lawyer hired an additional assistant to help with the DNA evidence the prosecution were yet to provide, as the matter was placed on a special list
Lawyer Mathew Cuskelly, acting on behalf of the woman, requested an eight-week adjournment at Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday in order to assess a brief of evidence provided by the prosecution.
He said he had hired an additional assistant with a medical background to review ‘quite a voluminous amount of medical documentation’, according to the Courier Mail.
Some of the brief had been provided by the prosecution earlier this month.
‘It is quite a large and complex brief,’ he said.
A prosecutor divulged some material was yet to be disclosed, including material which related to the DNA testing of a pill collected from a hospital and separate materials relating to an alleged breach of bail.
The court heard the 34-year-old had not been charged over a breach of bail, but her ex-partner previously made the claim in a statement to police.
Mr Cuskelly at the time argued his client had not been involved in any such bail breach and requested Queensland police provide the former partner’s statement.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Anthony Gett said he would place the case on the DNA call over because of the outstanding DNA material.
The list was created last December to manage criminal cases at the committal phase which can get delayed purely on account of pending DNA evidence.
The courts adjourned the matter until August 1 for a mention the woman does not have to attend.
