Queensland correctional services assessed Kerrie Struhs, the mother of eight‑year‑old Elizabeth Struhs, as posing “no immediate risk to others” only three weeks before the child’s death was ruled a manslaughter, an inquest in Brisbane heard.
The assessment was made by a correctional services officer who, according to the coroner, did not have access to Struhs’ prior offending record, which includes a conviction for child neglect.
In 2019, Kerrie Struhs was sentenced to five months’ imprisonment after she failed to take her daughter to hospital for treatment of her type 1 diabetes, a lapse that resulted in Elizabeth being found in a coma and nearly dead upon admission.
Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard has detailed that Elizabeth’s condition was critical when she finally reached the hospital, underscoring the severity of the neglect that preceded her death.
The inquest continues to examine how the risk assessment was conducted and why relevant information about Struhs’ history was not considered, raising questions about procedural safeguards within Queensland’s correctional services.
<small>Source: The Guardian — read the original story there.</small>
