A Brisbane nurse has admitted she killed her 10-year-old nephew by failing to take him to the doctor before he died from pneumonia. Curtis Powell had more than 200 injuries when he was found dead at a house in Brisbane’s south-east in July 2015. His aunt and foster carer, Jodie Maree Powell, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and two charges of assault occasioning bodily harm. The Supreme Court in Brisbane heard Powell physically assaulted Curtis with what prosecutor David Nardone described as “excessive discipline”. Mr Nardone said on one occasion Powell threw a knife at Curtis, causing a cut to his leg that she bandaged before making him stand in a corner. In another incident, she hit him with a carving fork. Mr Nardone said Curtis suffered injuries to his legs, arms, neck, stomach and back. Mr Nardone said staff at Curtis’s school often noticed bruises on him, but they had no serious concerns as he was physically active and engaged in rough play. “While that may well be an explanation for some of the bruises, the evidence establishes Ms Powell physically assaulted Curtis,” he said. The court heard that in the lead-up to his death, the 10-year-old boy was suffering from pneumonia and would have been so unwell that he would have had “obvious difficulty breathing”. Mr Nardone said Powell failed to seek adequate medical attention for Curtis before he died in July 2015. She was arrested and charged 18 months later. Defence barrister Tim Ryan said his client overcame “great adversity” to reach success in her career — which included once being the head of infection control and prevention at Brisbane’s Mater Hospital. “But she never confronted her demons from early childhood,” he said. “She found herself in the position where she wasn’t coping.” Mr Ryan said Powell made a serious error of judgment by not taking her nephew to the doctor. “This kind of death is a relatively rare one … rarely do children die of pneumonia,” he said. Justice Martin Burns said Powell was a registered nurse in charge of a very ill child. “She chose not to seek medical attention because that could have well exposed what was going on … that excessive discipline and force,” he said. Justice Burns will hand down his sentence on Wednesday.
August 19, 2019
A Brisbane doctor has managed to escape jail over drug offences for the second time in as many years, with the Judge granting her leniency because of her duties as a single mother to a four-month-old daughter. Rebecca Jane Ianniello, 34, wiped tears from her eyes today after receiving her sentence of two years jail with immediate parole for a string of drug offences. A police raid on Ms Ianniello’s Brisbane CBD hotel room uncovered around 4.5g of pure methamphetamine and over $20,000 cash in November 2017. The suspended medical practitioner was arraigned in June this year after pleading guilty to possessing more than 2g of a dangerous drug, another drug possession charge, possessing a relevant substance and possessing a thing relevant to drug possession. Ms Ianniello was already on parole when she faced court today, after being sentenced to 18 months jail but immediately paroled in September last year for being caught with more than 30g of methamphetamine in 2016. Justice Thomas Bradley told the court in other circumstances, a jail term of 2.5 years would be appropriate for the kind of offences Ms Ianniello committed, but granted her immediate parole because of her “particular situation.”
August 19, 2019
Eight former patients of an under-fire doctor have come forward to a law firm alleging misconduct. Police are also continuing to investigate Dr Shafiul Milky in relation to multiple sexual assault allegations. Since the law firm last week confirmed it is investigating Dr Milky, seven patients have contacted Adviceline Injury Lawyers alleging misconduct by the Bellarine Peninsula doctor. Patients have approached the firm with allegations spanning back to 2013.
August 19, 2019
An Illawarra mother says her intellectually disabled daughter remains fearful and confused after a sexual assault which took place while she was being cared for by an NDIS provider.
August 19, 2019
Family Support WA Inc is defending a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) in front of Deputy President Beaumont in chambers in Adelaide (Neaves).
August 19, 2019
The Federation of Western Australia Police and Community Youth Centres Inc has a s.372 (Application to deal with other contravention disputes) before Commissioner Williams in chambers in Perth (Lewis).
August 19, 2019
A s.185 (Application for approval of a multi-enterprise agreement) from Victorian Hospitals’ Industrial Association for its Victorian Community Health Sector (Audiologists, Dietitians, Pharmacists & Psychologists) 2018-2021 has been ratified by Fair Work Deputy President Colman in Melbourne on 16 August 2019.
August 16, 2019
Uniting Mission and Education will defend a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) before Fair Work Commissioner Johns in chambers (via telephone) in Sydney (Bleyerveen).
