Deceased
KBS
Demographics
1y, male
Coroner
Decision ofDeputy State Coroner Forbes
Date of death
2019-01-13
Finding date
2025-08-28
Cause of death
Blunt force abdominal trauma; laceration of spleen with intra-abdominal haemorrhage
AI-generated summary
A 14-month-old Aboriginal boy died from blunt force abdominal trauma with a splenic laceration on 13 January 2019. He had multiple injuries documented at autopsy including rib fractures, extensive bruising, and patterned burns consistent with inflicted injuries sustained over time. The child died in the early hours of the morning after receiving a significant blunt force blow to the abdomen. Family and support services were involved but were unaware the mother's partner (who had a history of violence) was living in the home. Child protection agencies did not conduct a full safety assessment following his father's incarceration and were not notified of the household composition change. No charges have been laid; the coroner found insufficient evidence to determine manner of death and referred the case to NSW Police Unsolved Homicide Unit.
AI-generated summary — refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
CORONERS COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES KBS Inquest: Inquest into the death of Hearing dates: 16-18 September 2024, 17-21 March 2025, 19 May 2025 Date of final submissions: 21 August 2025 Date of Findings: 28 August 2025 Place of Inquest: Coroners Court of New South Wales sitting at Wagga Wagga Local Court Place of Findings: Coroners Court of New South Wales, Lidcombe Findings of: Deputy State Coroner Carmel Forbes Catchwords: CORONIAL LAW – infant death – non accidental injuries – insufficient evidence to make a finding on manner of death – suspicious death File number: 2019/00012859 Representation: Counsel assisting the Coroner: Mr R Ranken SC and Ms G Marsden, instructed by Ms C Healey-Nash and Ms C Hill of the NSW Crown Solicitor’s Office Tonnisha Sebbens: Ms G Lewer and Ms E McLaughlin, instructed by Ms D Captain-Webb of Legal Aid NSW Cindy Knight: Mr T Maybury Secretary of the Department of Communities and Justice: Mr B Fogarty, instructed by Ms M Mullard of the Department of Communities and Justice Mission Australia: Ms J Chapman, instructed by Ms J Shooter and Ms R Cavanaugh of Lander & Rogers
KBS Findings: died on 13 January 2019. The place of his death was Ashmont, NSW. The cause of
his death was blunt force abdominal trauma. The available evidence does not allow me to make a finding as to the manner of death.
Recommendations: To the Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Force:
KBS I recommend that the death of be referred to the NSW Police Unsolved Homicide Unit for ongoing investigation in accordance with the protocols and procedures of that unit.
NOTE: PROTECTIVE ORDERS AND RESTRICTED ACCESS ORDERS HAVE BEEN MADE IN THIS INQUEST AND COPIES CAN BE FOUND ON THE REGISTRY FILE CULTURAL WARNING Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that these findings may contain the name of a deceased Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person.
Readers are warned that there may be words and descriptions that may be culturally distressing.
KBS was only 14 months old when he died at his home at , Ashmont, NSW (a suburb of Wagga Wagga) sometime during the early hours of 13 January 2019 as a result of blunt force abdominal trauma. At autopsy, not only was that traumatic injury noted but examination of his body showed many recent and old injuries including broken ribs, bruises to his forehead, bruises to his scalp, bruises to both sides of his body and thighs, a cut to the inside of his right leg, burns on his feet and right ankle and a striking cigarette lighter burn to his left hand.
has Aboriginal connections to the Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta, Jerinjah, Wamba Wamba, Baraparapa, Dhudhuroa, Wurunderji, Yuin and Ngiyampa Nations. He was described as a happy and cheeky boy who loved to dance and sing. He is greatly missed by all his family.
KBS was born on 28 October 2017 at Wagga Wagga Rural Referral Hospital.1 There were complications with the birth but nothing that resulted in ongoing medical 1 Exhibit #3, V4/101 – My Personal Health Record (Blue Book). KBS ’s birth does not appear to have been registered: Exhibit #3, V4/100 – NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages Result of Search dated 27 February 2019.
See also Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 30, Q&A 4.
problems and overall, his health from birth was fine.2 KBS ’s newborn screening examinations were reportedly normal,3 and he was generally described by his family as a normal, healthy and happy child.4
KBS appears to have ended in the months following ’s birth when Mr Bamblett was remanded in custody from January 2018 for domestic violence offences against Ms Sebbens.7
In mid-2018, Ms Sebbens and her children moved into Ashmont (a suburb of Wagga Wagga).8 This Department of Housing property was close to a number of immediate and extended family members. Ms Sebbens’ mother, Cindy Knight, and sister, lived next door at Ms Sebbens’ grandmother, Shelly Aghan, lived at . Another maternal aunt, Tiana Sebbens, lived at with her partner, Justin Thomas Snr and four children.9
Ms Sebbens remained living at until around August 2018, when she moved to Wollongong and both children remained in Wagga Wagga with her mother.
During this period, the Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) (now known as the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ)) became involved with the family in respect of both children.
2 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 30, Q&A 356-362.
3 Exhibit #3, V1/10 – Paediatric Autopsy Report of Dr Allan Cala dated 12 September 2019, p 2 of 15.
4 Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Ms Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, p 2 of 8, [12]; Exhibit #3, V2/30 – Statement of Shelly Aghan dated 16 January 2019, p 1 of 3, [5]. See also Exhibit #3, V3/73 – Wagga Wagga Rural Referral Hospital Records at p 3.
5 Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, p 2 of 8, [7]-[8].
6 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – Statement of Detective Senior Constable Nicole Shaw dated 9 June 2019 (but signed 16 August 2019) (DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019)), p 5 of 134, [7]; Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, p 2 of 8, [7].
7 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, pp 30-31, Q&A 365368.
8 Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, p 2 of 8, [8].
9 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), pp 7-8 of 134, [12].
In Wollongong, Ms Sebbens was in a relationship with Emmett Brown.10 Ms Sebbens and Mr Brown had known one another since they were children and were related through marriage (Mr Brown’s uncle, Justin Thomas Snr, was married to Ms Sebbens’ aunt, Tiana Sebbens).11 Between early August and November 2018, Ms Sebbens lived in Wollongong with Mr Brown and his family.12 She returned to Wagga Wagga in around mid-November 2018 and moved back into and resumed caring for both children.13 It appears that Mr Brown also commenced living at with Ms Sebbens and her children at around this time.14
Mr Brown was subsequently sentenced to a 7-year sentence of imprisonment for various offences, including domestic violence offences committed against Ms Sebbens.15 On 12 December 2022, Mr Brown was found deceased in his cell at Cessnock Correctional Centre. Mr Brown’s cause of death was the combined effects of bronchopneumonia and methadone toxicity.
Ms Sebbens had been the victim of serious domestic violence from her male partners.
This violence was often committed in the home and witnessed by her children. In considering the evidence in this matter I am mindful of the context of her family’s intergenerational experience with violence, child protection and police. I am mindful that this would have an impact upon her trust and engagement with police and child protection services.
He was happy, loving and the sweetest little boy you would ever meet.
10 Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, p 2 of 8, [9].
11 Exhibit #3, V2/36 – Statement of Brody Ugle dated 2 November 2020, p 1 of 2, [6]; Exhibit #3, V2/31 – Statement of Justin Thomas (Snr) dated 17 January 2019, p 3 of 3.
12 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), pp 5-6 of 134, [8]-[9].
13 Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, p 3 of 8, [13]-[14].
14 See, eg, Exhibit #3, V2/31 – Statement of Justin Thomas (Snr) dated 17 January 2019, p 3 of 3 [12]; Exhibit #3, V2/32 – Statement of Tamara Thomas dated 17 January 2019, pp 1-2 [6] and 5 [24]; Exhibit #3, V2/33 – Statement of Justin Thomas (Jnr) dated 17 January 2019, p 2 of 4 [9].
15 Exhibit #3, V3/81 – NSWPF Criminal History – Bail Report for Emmett Brown dated 10 April 2024.
KBS was my sunshine in the dark times, he came into my life at a very hard time and showed me a whole different kind of love, I cherished every moment I had with him and always will.”
KBS devastated all of us. It has knocked us rotten. ’s death has destroyed Luke,
KBS and I really struggle trying to reach him. I fear that ’s death has had a lasting impact on Luke, and that he may not recover from it.”
KBS ’s child protection history
KBS of and his family in November and December 2017 and January 2018. These reports were made in respect of concerns about Mr Bamblett’s behaviour towards Ms Sebbens, which was alleged to involve verbal abuse and physical violence.17
Casework included attempting to arrange childcare, assisting Ms Sebbens with practical supports and referring her to support services.18 DCJ closed its file on 1 May 2018 after it received confirmation that a support service, to which it had referred Ms Sebbens and the children, had accepted the referral.19
17 Exhibit #3, V10/142 – Statement of Katherine Alexander dated 29 August 2024, pp 16-18, [70]-[80].
18 Exhibit #3, V10/142 – Statement of Katherine Alexander dated 29 August 2024, p 18, [82].
19 Exhibit #3, V10/142 – Statement of Katherine Alexander dated 29 August 2024, p 19, [86].
20 Exhibit #3, V10/142 – Statement of Katherine Alexander dated 29 August 2024, pp 18-19, [87]-[94].
In late September 2018, DCJ made a referral to Mission Australia’s Brighter Futures program in respect of the family. That referral was made with the consent of the family member who was caring for the children in Ms Sebbens’ absence. In late October 2018, Mission Australia advised DCJ the referral to the Brighter Futures program had been accepted.21 From late October 2018 until after KBS ’s death on 13 January 2019, Mission Australia had an open file for the family.22
Brighter Futures staff began working with the family in early November 2018. They provided assistance to Ms Sebbens upon her return to Wagga Wagga when she resumed caring for the children. That assistance included supporting the family to enrol
KBS both children in childcare, supporting Ms Sebbens to bring ’s immunisations up to date, and financial assistance.23
KBS ’s death.
KBS ’s medical history prior to death
21 Exhibit #3, V10/142 – Statement of Katherine Alexander dated 29 August 2024, p 20, [93]-[96].
22 Exhibit #3, V10/142 – Statement of Katherine Alexander dated 29 August 2024, p 21, [97].
23 Exhibit #3, V5/109 – First Statement of Amanda Bainbridge dated 9 August 2019, p 2, [9]; Exhibit #3, V5/110 – Second Statement of Amanda Bainbridge dated 4 July 2024, p 7, [36]-[40].
24 Exhibit #3, V5/109 – First Statement of Amanda Bainbridge dated 9 August 2019, p 2, [11].
25 Exhibit #3, V5/110 – Second Statement of Amanda Bainbridge dated 4 July 2024, p 46, Annexure AB-16.
KBS dry and peeling.” also had what Dr Bunungam describes as a “desquamated
KBS vesicle” (in other words, a peeling blister) on the ankle. Dr Bunungam assessed to be well and clinically stable.27
KBS healing wound. He recalled that ’s mother told him that she had previously used Bactroban on KBS and KBS had no issues with it.28
KBS that the blisters on ’s feet looked like burns; rather, he thought that they were Impetigo, a common skin infection.29 13 January 2019 and the investigation The day prior to KBS ’s death
27 Exhibit #3, V4/104 – First Statement of Dr Saul Bunungam signed 10 September 2019, p 2, [16].
28 Exhibit #3, V4/104 – First Statement of Dr Saul Bunungam signed 10 September 2019, p 2, [17].
29 Exhibit #3, V4/105 – Second Statement of Dr Saul Bunungam dated 9 June 2024.
30 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 7, Q&A 65-68; Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, p 4 of 8, [21].
31 Ms Knight told police, “ KBS seemed happy because he was running in and out of my room during the day”.32
KBS children played together for 1-2 hours. Ms Ryan has said that and “seemed fine” and were playing normally. Ms Ryan left Ms Knight’s place at about 8:30 pm.33
KBS on Ms Knight’s lounge. He has told police that it was “normal play with a
KBS toddler”, “wasn’t overly rough” and he does not believe got hurt in any way as
KBS KBS remained happy the entire time. Mr Ugle thought he played with for around ten minutes and then left Ms Knight’s house at around 8 or 9 pm. Mr Ugle has
KBS said that when he left was fine, happy and smiling and seemed completely healthy with no injuries.34
32 Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, p 4 of 8, [22].
33 Exhibit #3, V2/37 – Statement of Amanda Ryan dated 16 January 2019, pp 1-2 of 3, [4]-[6].
34 Exhibit #3, V2/36 – Statement of Brody Ugle dated 2 November 2020, p 2 of 2, [9]-[10].
35 Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, p 5 of 8, [24].
36 Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, p 5 of 8, [25]; Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, p 16, Q&A 195.
thinks it might have been before midnight.37 That was the last time Miss saw KBS awake.38
KBS Miss has said she thinks was only wearing a nappy before she got him dressed and that she dressed him in a green and white zip up jumpsuit.40 She then returned to leaving Ms Sebbens with the children.41
13 January 2019 Triple-0 call and the accounts of the first civilians present on scene
KBS KBS saying, “ ’s dead, ’s dead, he is blue”. Ms Sebbens opened Ms Knight’s front door, entered her bedroom, and dropped to the floor. In response, Ms Knight called her mother, Shelly Aghan, and her friend, Amanda Ryan. She then called triple-0 and initially spoke to the operator, before handing the phone to someone to give to Ms Ryan.42 37 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, p 23, Q&A 288-300.
38 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, p 23, Q&A 288-289, 369.
39 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, pp 27-28, Q&A 332351.
40 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, pp 21-22, Q&A 256267 and pp 29-30, Q&A 371-377.
41 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, p 28, Q&A 367-368.
42 Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, p 6 of 8, [30]-[31].
According to Ambulance records, Ms Knight’s call to triple-0 was received at 10:42 am.43 Ms Knight requested an ambulance for and said, “My grandson’s dead” and “they wake up they found him dead, he’s blue, in the bed”.44
Ms Ryan has said she received a phone call from Ms Knight in which Ms Knight was KBS crying hysterically, and she heard the words “it’s ” and “died”. Ms Knight was hysterical and crying. Ms Ryan then ran to Ms Knight’s place and saw Ms Sebbens sitting
KBS on her front steps holding and sobbing, saying, “He is gone”. Ms Ryan saw that
KBS ’s eyes were half open, and his skin was blue, and he had blue lips. She put her hand on his chest and her ear to his mouth but could not hear him breathing and he felt cold. She could not feel a pulse on his wrist. Ms Ryan said to Ms Sebbens, “You need to
KBS give him to me so I can start CPR”. Ms Sebbens then gave to Ms Ryan, and she laid him down on the floorboards in the doorway of checked his airways, rolled him onto his back and started CPR. Ms Ryan performed two rounds of compressions before Ms Aghan arrived and took KBS from her.45
KBS She then told Ms Knight to call an ambulance and got dressed and called her son-in-law, Justin Thomas Snr, and asked him for help. Mr Thomas Snr ran straight over to Ms Aghan’s house, and he and Ms Aghan then ran to Ms Knight’s house.46
KBS KBS Ms Aghan then took ran into the main bedroom of the house, placed on the bed and started performing CPR. As she did this, Ms Ryan had triple-0 on the phone and the operator explained what to do. Ms Aghan has said the ambulance then 43 Exhibit #3, V13/162 – Transcript of First Triple 0 Call.
44 Exhibit #3, V13/162 – Transcript of First Triple-0 Call, p 2.
45 Exhibit #3, V2/37 – Statement of Amanda Ryan dated 16 January 2019, pp 2-3 of 3, [7]-[12].
46 Exhibit #3, V2/30 – Statement of Shelly Aghan dated 16 January 2019, p 2 of 3, [7].
arrived and took over.47 Ambulance records indicate that ambulances arrived on scene at 10:49 am, approximately 7 minutes after the triple-0 call was placed.48
KBS He then ran to When he arrived, he saw Ms Sebbens on the front step, crying and hysterical, and Ms Ryan kneeling in the doorway performing CPR
KBS KBS KBS on Ms Ryan passed to Mr Thomas Snr, who in turn passed to Ms Aghan.49 KBS appeared lifeless, and Mr Thomas Snr did not see any movement or breathing. He was not cold and was just pale and not quite blue. He was just wearing a nappy at the time and the only injury Mr Thomas Snr observed was “a small bruise on his belly”.50 Attendance of paramedics and police
KBS observed two females performing CPR on , who did not appear to be breathing and was unresponsive.53 Inspector Purcell immediately picked KBS up and carried him outside into a waiting ambulance. Together with paramedics Mark Stephenson and Julie-Ann Exton, he commenced resuscitation efforts.54
KBS with a strong smell of vomit. Inspector Purcell believed was in cardiac arrest and most likely deceased at that time.55 47 Exhibit #3, V2/30 – Statement of Shelly Aghan dated 16 January 2019, p 2 of 3, [7].
48 Exhibit #3, V13/162 – Transcript of First Triple 0 Call; Exhibit #3, V3/71 – Incident Detail Report 50148.
49 Exhibit #3, V2/31 – Statement of Justin Thomas (Snr) dated 17 January 2019, pp 1-2 of 3, [5]-[10].
50 Exhibit #3, V2/31 – Statement of Justin Thomas (Snr) dated 17 January 2019, pp 1-2 of 3, [5]-[10].
51 Exhibit #3, V3/71 – Incident Detail Report 50148 pp 1, 3 (10:48:58).
52 Exhibit #3, V3/66 – Statement of Inspector Eamonn Purcell dated 14 January 2019, pp 1-2 of 3, [5]-[6] 53 Exhibit #3, V3/66 – Statement of Inspector Eamonn Purcell dated 14 January 2019, p 2 of 3, [7].
54 Exhibit #3, V3/66 – Statement of Inspector Eamonn Purcell dated 14 January 2019, pp 1-2 of 3, [7]-[8].
55 Exhibit #3, V3/66 – Statement of Inspector Eamonn Purcell dated 14 January 2019, p 2 of 3, [10]-[11].
KBS KBS to ’s body, including a burn mark on his right hand. At 11:03 am, was
KBS conveyed to hospital. The ambulance arrived at hospital at 11:09 am and was handed over to Emergency Department staff for further treatment.56 Ms Sebbens’ first account
Paramedic Sascha Baldry arrived at at the same time as Inspector Purcell and other paramedics. As other paramedics commenced resuscitation efforts on KBS Ms Baldry approached Ms Sebbens to obtain details of what had happened.57 The conversation that followed is the first recorded account Ms Sebbens gave of the events of the night of 12 to 13 January 2019.
When asked, “What time did this happen?”, Ms Sebbens initially said, “Ten o’clock” but KBS then clarified, “maybe it was ten-thirty”. Ms Baldry confirmed ’s name, date of birth and brief medical details. When asked, “When did you last see him ok?”,
KBS Ms Sebbens said she had put to bed with a vegemite sandwich, and she took Ms Baldry into his bedroom.58
Ms Baldry has said there was a strong smell of vomit as soon as she entered the house and the temperature was hot.59 Inside the bedroom, the smell of vomit was very strong and she observed a yellow substance on the floor about the size of the top of a coffee cup, which she thought was vomit. When they were in the bedroom, Ms Sebbens told Ms Baldry, “He was bitten by an insect on the ankle two days ago, the doctor said he was ok”.60
Ms Baldry exited the house and relayed this information to the other paramedics and police on scene. At the suggestion of another paramedic, Ms Baldry returned to ask
KBS Ms Sebbens when was last seen. Ms Sebbens told Ms Baldry, “It was about 2 am”. Another woman present during this conversation then told Ms Baldry that she 56 Exhibit #3, V3/66 – Statement of Inspector Eamonn Purcell dated 14 January 2019, pp 1-2 of 3, [9]-[11].
57 Exhibit #3, V3/68 – Statement of Sascha Louise Baldry dated 18 January 2019, pp 2-3 of 7, [9]-[10].
58 Exhibit #3, V3/68 – Statement of Sascha Louise Baldry dated 18 January 2019, pp 3-4 of 7, [10].
59 Exhibit #3, V3/68 – Statement of Sascha Louise Baldry dated 18 January 2019, p 4 of 7, [11] 60 Exhibit #3, V3/68 – Statement of Sascha Louise Baldry dated 18 January 2019, pp 4-5 of 7, [11].
KBS had returned to the home from a club at about 4 am and saw sleeping normally.
Ms Baldry relayed this additional information to the other paramedics and police before departing the scene to transfer KBS to hospital.61 Ms Sebbens’ second account
KBS of the paramedics to enter the ambulance and make observations of . Upon
KBS doing so, Senior Constable Carr observed two distinctive burn marks on ; one on the back of the left hand, which he considered to be from the back of a cigarette lighter, and another on the right outside area of KBS ’s right ankle.63
Senior Constable Carr exited the ambulance and provided an update of the situation to police radio as further police had not yet arrived on scene.64
Senior Constable Carr approached Ms Sebbens and was joined by other police who had by then arrived, including Constable Tony Johnston and Leading Senior Constable Symon Parsons. Leading Senior Constable Parsons activated his body worn camera and SC Carr questioned Ms Sebbens about what had happened. The conversation that followed is the second account Ms Sebbens gave of the events of the night of 12 to 13 January 2019. In summary;65
KBS a. She found at about 10:30 am in his cot. He was on his back and had his blanket on and a pillow on his belly, near his chest. It was how he normally lays.
b. He was not breathing. He was blue and his mouth and eyes were open.
c. She had entered the kids’ room at about 10 am when woke up crying.
This woke her up, so she got up and gave a dummy and drink of milk 61 Exhibit #3, V3/68 – Statement of Sascha Louise Baldry dated 18 January 2019, pp 5-6 of 7, [12]-[14].
62 Exhibit #3, V2/44 – Statement of Senior Constable Michael Carr dated 16 January 2019, pp 1 of 6, [2].
63 Exhibit #3, V2/44 – Statement of Senior Constable Michael Carr dated 16 January 2019, pp 1-2 of 6, [2]-[4].
64 Exhibit #3, V2/44 – Statement of Senior Constable Michael Carr dated 16 January 2019, p 2 of 6, [7].
65 Exhibit #3, V2/44 – Statement of Senior Constable Michael Carr dated 16 January 2019, pp 3-5 of 6, [9]-[13].
KBS before going back to bed. She thought was asleep like normal at 10 am so she did not take notice of him. She was not sure if he was breathing.
KBS d. Upon finding , she ran over to her mum’s house because she did not know what to do.
e. She said several times there was no one else in the house and the only people who lived at were her and her two children.
Officers Carr, Johnson, and Parsons then entered the house to ensure there were no other persons present. Senior Constable Carr has said that during the search, he was confronted with a strong smell of faeces, vomit, rotten food, and cannabis. He said the smell of vomit was ever present in the children’s room.66
After exiting Officers Carr, Johnson, and Parsons spoke to Detective Senior Constable Nicole Shaw who had arrived on scene shortly after 11 am and directed that all persons be removed from A crime scene was declared at around 11:15 am.67 Ms Sebbens’ third account
A short time later, Detective Senior Constable Shaw went over to and approached Ms Sebbens, who was sitting on a seat on the front veranda crying hysterically. The conversation that followed is the third account Ms Sebbens gave of the night of 12 to 13 January 2019.68
KBS a. was bitten by a spider a couple of days previously and it was not healing. She had called 13CURE and a doctor had come and said it was an allergic reaction.
KBS b. She had checked on at 10 am and he was sleeping.
c. At 10:30 am, she went into the children’s bedroom and “there was a strong
KBS smell of poo and was blue”.
66 Exhibit #3, V2/44 – Statement of Senior Constable Michael Carr dated 16 January 2019, p 6 of 6, [15].
67 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), pp 9-11, [13]-[16].
68 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), p 46, [22]; Exhibit #3, V1/13 – Extract of Official Police Notebook A004782 pp 21-22.
Transfer to hospital
KBS resuscitation in circumstances where remained in asystole after 30 minutes of active resuscitation. KBS was pronounced dead at 11:32am.70
Dr Pitts’ conclusion was that had sustained a significant injury causing a cardiorespiratory arrest and there was internal bleeding given the low haemoglobin on blood gas.73 Ms Sebbens’ fourth account
Detective Senior Constable Shaw attended the hospital at around 2 pm and spoke to a KBS number of other officers. She observed ’s body lying on the hospital bed and noted that although she observed a strong odour of vomit emanating from the body, he was remarkably clean to look at.74 69 Exhibit #3, V3/66 – Statement of Inspector Eamonn Purcell dated 14 January 2019, p 3 of 3, [10]-[11].
70 Exhibit #3, V3/75 – First Statement of Dr Theresa Pitts dated 22 February 2019; Exhibit #3, V1/3 – Verification of Death dated 13 January 2019.
71 Exhibit #3, V3/75 – First Statement of Dr Theresa Pitts dated 22 February 2019, p 2, [6].
72 Exhibit #3, V3/75 – First Statement of Dr Theresa Pitts dated 22 February 2019, pp 2-3, [6].
73 Exhibit #3, V3/75 – First Statement of Dr Theresa Pitts dated 22 February 2019, p 4, [7].
74 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), pp 47-48, [25]-[26].
KBS a. went to sleep in his cot between around 10 pm and 11 pm but woke back up at around midnight.76 He was all normal besides being “real sooky, crying about his feet… like he was really irritated about his feet like there was something wrong with his feet.77
KBS b. The only people present at when went to bed were Ms Sebbens and her children, although her sister Miss was in and out.78
KBS c. When woke up just before midnight, Ms Sebbens let him out of his cot and he then remained up until around 2 am.79 During this period, KBS walked around the house and then watched television (possibly Family Guy) with Ms Sebbens.80 When he was walking around the house, he was crying and “wasn’t normal”. He just kept crying and kept rubbing his feet and touching his blisters.81
KBS d. Ms Sebbens then gave and a Vegemite sandwich each and a
KBS bottle of milk. She claimed ate most of his Vegemite sandwich but did not drink much of his milk.82
KBS e. Ms Sebbens then changed ’s nappy and he went back to sleep at around 2 am and appeared to be “perfectly fine”– which Ms Sebbens 75 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), pp 49-50, [28]-[29].
76 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 8, Q&A 73-75.
77 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 11, Q&A 97-99.
78 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 10, Q&A 107-109.
79 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 12, Q&A 132.
80 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 12, Q&A 134 and p
81 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, pp 1-2, Q&A 6.
82 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, pp 14-15, Q&A 150164.
confirmed when she checked on him at around 2:30 am and turned off the television.83 She also turned on the fan and the children’s night light.84 KBS was only wearing a nappy and Batman underpants when he went to sleep, because it was too hot that night for him to wear any other clothes.85 f. Between about 2:30 am and 4 am, Ms Sebbens briefly lay in bed, talked to Miss out the front of the house, and called Ms Knight and asked Ms Knight to get her Macca’s because she was hungry.86 In that time, Ms Sebbens was out having a smoke talking to Miss 87 g. At around 4 am, Ms Sebbens’ cousins “Mara” (Tamara Thomas) and “Buddy” (Justin Thomas Jnr) dropped in on their way home from the club and, at the same time, Ms Knight arrived with McDonalds.88 Ms Sebbens then collected food off her mum and she, Ms Thomas and Mr Thomas Jnr went into her bedroom to talk and eat.89 h. As Ms Thomas and Mr Thomas Jnr walked through to her bedroom,
KBS Ms Thomas saw asleep and later told Ms Sebbens that he looked “perfectly fine… Nothing looked wrong with him at all.”90 i. Ms Thomas and Mr Thomas Jnr stayed for about 20 minutes and went home at around 5 am and Ms Sebbens went to bed.91 j. Ms Sebbens remained asleep until around 10:30 am when she got up to go to the toilet and could smell poo. She went into the kids’ bedroom and saw
KBS lying on his back. He was blue, his mouth was open, and he just was not breathing.92 83 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 15, Q&A 165-167 and p 19, Q&A 206-207.
84 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, pp 15, Q&A 168-169 and p 19, Q&A 208-209.
85 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 15, Q&A 175-178.
86 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 19, Q&A 212-215.
87 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 19, Q&A 216-217.
88 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 4, Q&A 16 and p 20,
89 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 19, Q&A 224.
90 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 19, Q&A 224-225.
91 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 20, Q&A 236-240.
92 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 21, Q&A 250-252.
k. Ms Sebbens then ran to her mother’s house and Ms Knight called an
KBS ambulance. Ms Sebbens then returned to her house and grabbed out
KBS of his cot and sat on her front veranda holding him. was turning blue.
He was cold. He wasn’t breathing.93 l. Ms Ryan, Mr Thomas Snr and Ms Aghan then arrived, and Ms Ryan grabbed
KBS from Ms Sebbens and took him into the house and attempted to resuscitate him.94 m. Ms Sebbens said the only people living at were her and her two children.95 She said the only people who were home the previous night were her, Ms Thomas, and Mr Thomas Jnr (Buddy).96
KBS n. As to any injuries she observed on prior to his death, Ms Sebbens
KBS described a burn mark on his hand she claimed was caused when had got hold of her lighter when she was lighting a cigarette about five days prior.
KBS She also described a bruise on ’s leg that was caused when had hit him with a pole the previous day, a lump and “probably bruises” on his head because he constantly hit his head on the ground, what she thought was a spider bite on his ankle which had been checked by an after-hours doctor, and blisters on his feet.97 Commencement of investigation
94 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, pp 2-3, Q&A 6.
95 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 2, Q&A 7.
96 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, p 3, Q&A 16.
97 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, pp 22-26, Q&A 261308.
98 Exhibit #3, V1/1 – P79A Report of Death to Coroner dated 13 January 2019, p 1 of 15.
99 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), p 57, [37].
Ms Sebbens was in an intimate relationship with Mr Brown.100 This was the first time police were aware of Mr Brown’s potential relevance to the investigation.
On 15 January 2019, police were advised that Dr Allan Cala, forensic pathologist, had performed an autopsy. Police subsequently received Dr Cala’s Interim Cause of Death Report in which Dr Cala opined that the direct cause of death was “blunt force abdominal trauma”.101 Civilian accounts of the night of 12 to 13 January 2019
On 16 and 17 January 2019, police took statements from a number of civilians who were present at and during the early hours of 13 January 2019 as to the events of that night. The following is a summary of the statements that they gave to police.
Cindy Knight
On 16 January 2019, Ms Knight provided a statement in which she told police she was at home at until around 4 am, when she went to Glenfield McDonald’s with Miss and two friends to get a feed. They arrived home at the same time as her niece and nephew, Ms Thomas and Mr Thomas Jnr, who arrived in a taxi. Ms Sebbens, Ms Thomas, and Mr Thomas Jnr then went into and collected McDonald’s off Ms Knight before going into Ms Knight then went to bed and did not hear from Ms Sebbens again until she was woken by Ms Sebbens screaming.102
Ms Knight provided an account of Ms Sebbens saying something about a man across the road at the front of the house with a pole he was banging on the ground and pointing at her asking her to come and have a look. Ms Knight said she saw a short, solid, or chubby Aboriginal man wearing an orangey-red touch football guernsey across the road with a pole. She claims that she yelled out to her cousin who was staying with 100 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), p 58, [39].
101 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), p 59, [41]. Note: the Interim Cause of Death Report (Exhibit #3, V1/6) is dated 16 January 2019 but according to DSC Shaw, she received it on 15 January 2019.
102 Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, pp 5-6 of 8, [26]-[30].
a friend at , “Come and tell me who this is”, but the man had gone by the time her cousin got there.103
KBS to tell her about ’s death on 13 January 2019 because Ms Sebbens and Mr Brown
KBS had both found Ms Knight told police that she “left out mentioning Emmett” because she did not want to get him into trouble because Ms Sebbens said he might be on the run from police.104
Miss was interviewed by police on 17 January 2019. She told police she last saw KBS sleeping at around 5 am.105 At that time, Ms Sebbens, Mr Brown and Ms Thomas and Mr Thomas Jnr were also at and was also there asleep.106
She said she earlier went to McDonald’s with her mum and her mum’s friend.107 When they arrived home, she ate her food then went over to Ms Sebbens’ house to see what they were doing.108 There she saw Ms Sebbens, Mr Brown, Ms Thomas and Mr Thomas Jnr sitting and talking in the back room.109 Miss said she was only there for a minute then went to return to looking into the kids’ room on her way out of the house.110 Miss then returned to and went to sleep at around 6 am.111 103 Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, p 5 of 8, [27].
104 Exhibit #3, V2/29 – Statement of Cindy Knight dated 16 January 2019, p 7 of 8, [35]-[42].
105 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, p 13, Q&A 137-147.
106 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, p 13, Q&A 148-150.
107 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, p 14, Q&A 158-159.
108 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, p 14, Q&A 154 and p 15, Q&A 165-167, 172-173.
109 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, pp 15-16, Q&A 174184.
110 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, p 14, Q&A 155-156 and p 15, Q&A 185-188.
111 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, p 23, Q&A 278-281.
KBS was lying on his back and could see his face with his eyes closed, leading her to believe that he was sleeping.114 Tamara Thomas
Ms Thomas told police she and her brother, Mr Thomas Jnr, arrived home to in a taxi at around 4 am. Ms Thomas confirmed that Ms Knight was pulling up as they arrived. Ms Thomas said she got out of the taxi and walked into Ms Knight’s house and as she was walking into the house, she “heard a girl’s voice saying something about a fella hanging out the front with a metal pole”.115
Ms Thomas told police Ms Knight offered her McDonald’s, and she collected some food and stood around talking to Ms Knight and Miss She says Ms Sebbens then arrived and grabbed some McDonald’s and returned to Ms Thomas continued talking to Ms Knight and Miss for about 10 minutes, before she and Mr Thomas Jnr took their McDonald’s over to Ms Sebbens’ house. They then went into Ms Sebbens’ room, sat on the bed, and ate. Ms Thomas confirmed that Mr Brown was with them at this time and everyone was in a good mood. Ms Thomas has said she and Mr Thomas Jnr left Ms Sebbens’ house at around 4:20 am or 4:30 am and walked home and went to bed.116
113 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, p 16, Q&A 195-197.
114 Exhibit #3, V2/34 – Transcript of child interview with of 17 January 2019, p 17, Q&A 199-201, and p 20, Q&A 240-243.
115 Exhibit #3, V2/32 – Statement of Tamara Thomas dated 17 January 2019, p 2 of 6, [8]-[9].
116 Exhibit #3, V2/32 – Statement of Tamara Thomas dated 17 January 2019, pp 2-3 of 6, [10]-[11].
KBS KBS asleep in his cot which was next to the wall opposite the door. was lying on his back with his arms positioned upwards “as though he was showing off his muscles.” She did not notice anything abnormal.117 Justin Thomas Jnr
Mr Thomas Jnr’s account to police was consistent with his sister’s. He told police he thought he and Ms Thomas arrived at at around 4:30 am and confirmed they arrived at the same time as Ms Knight. He said he and Ms Thomas went into Ms Knight’s house for about five minutes before they went next door to Ms Sebbens’ house. He and Ms Thomas then went inside and walked through to Ms Sebbens’ bedroom, where he saw Mr Brown sitting on a chair in the corner of the room.118
Like Ms Thomas, Mr Thomas Jnr recalled glancing into the kids’ room on his way past.
He told police that although there were no lights on in the room, the hallway light was on so there was a little bit of light shining into the room. He could see the shape of a baby in the cot and in a bed facing away from the door. Neither of the kids were making any noise and he thought they were both asleep.119
In the bedroom, Ms Thomas and Ms Sebbens sat on the bed eating McDonald’s while Mr Thomas Jnr sat on a chair just inside the door and discussed his motorbike with Mr Brown. He recalled that Mr Brown seemed normal and did not seem affected by alcohol, but he noticed a bong on the table next to where Mr Brown was sitting. He did not notice any other drugs or pipes in the room, but he thinks Mr Brown may have used the bong while he was present.120
Mr Thomas Jnr said he and Ms Thomas only stayed at Ms Sebbens’ for about 15 minutes or so before they left and walked home. They did not see anyone on their way home and he then went to bed and slept until about 10:30 am.121 117 Exhibit #3, V2/32 – Statement of Tamara Thomas dated 17 January 2019, p 3 of 6, [12].
118 Exhibit #3, V2/33 – Statement of Justin Thomas (Jnr) dated 17 January 2019, pp 2-3 of 4, [7]-[10].
119 Exhibit #3, V2/33 – Statement of Justin Thomas (Jnr) dated 17 January 2019, p 3 of 4, [10].
120 Exhibit #3, V2/33 – Statement of Justin Thomas (Jnr) dated 17 January 2019, p 3 of 4, [11]-[12].
121 Exhibit #3, V2/33 – Statement of Justin Thomas (Jnr) dated 17 January 2019, p 3 of 4, [13].
Ms Sebbens’ fifth account
On 17 January 2019, Ms Sebbens participated in a further interview with Detective Senior Constable Shaw and Detective Sergeant Briggs which was recorded as part of a video walk-through of 122
Initially Ms Sebbens reiterated an account of the events that was consistent with the version she gave at Wagga Wagga Hospital on the afternoon of 13 January 2019 but with the additional detail that when she was outside about 4:00 am, she saw a “weird person” across the road pointing a pole.123
During the walkthrough interview, Ms Sebbens disclosed for the first time that her KBS partner Mr Brown was present on the night of ’s death and was with her the whole night. She said Mr Brown’s mate Cody Moore (Tilden) came over at about the same time that Ms Knight went to get McDonald’s and then he and Mr Moore were sitting out the front of her house when Ms Thomas and Mr Thomas Jnr arrived by taxi.
Mr Moore then went home in the taxi and Ms Sebbens, Ms Thomas, Mr Thomas Jnr, and Mr Brown remained at 124
KBS at around 10:30 am, smelt poo in the hallway and assumed that needed to be changed.126 She said they both went into the kids’ room with Mr Brown going in first.127 Mr Brown approached KBS and tapped him to wake him up, before 122 Exhibit #3, V1/19 – Transcript of video walk-through and interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 17 January 2019.
123 Exhibit #3, V1/19 – Transcript of video walk-through and interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 17 January 2019, p 17, Q&A 173-174. This was information she had first provided in a brief conversation with police the previous afternoon, that is, 16 January 2019: see Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), pp 67-68, [52].
124 Exhibit #3, V1/19 – Transcript of video walk-through and interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 17 January 2019, pp 27-29, Q&A 290-305.
125 Exhibit #3, V1/19 – Transcript of video walk-through and interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 17 January 2019, p 21, Q&A 216-222 and p 29, Q&A 306.
126 Exhibit #3, V1/19 – Transcript of video walk-through and interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 17 January 2019, p 29, Q&A 306.
127 Exhibit #3, V1/19 – Transcript of video walk-through and interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 17 January 2019, p 29, Q&A 306 and p 35, Q&A 364-366.
saying “ KBS ’s not moving” and grabbing him near his arm pits and shaking him for a second.128
was laying on top of the blanket in the cot on his back diagonally with his head up in the corner part. He had his eyes open. They were rolled into the back of his head, and his mouth was open. Ms Sebbens said she believed he was gone because he was blue, and he was not moving and had no reaction.129
She and Mr Brown then ran to Ms Knight’s house. Ms Sebbens then returned to KBS and grabbed from his cot, while Mr Brown went to Mr Thomas Snr’s house as he did not want to be there “just in case” as he was on the run. Ms Sebbens told police this was the only reason she did not initially tell them about Mr Brown’s presence.130 When Ms Sebbens picked KBS up from the cot, “he just stayed stiff.”131
As far as injuries were concerned, Ms Sebbens said he looked mostly fine but still had a bruise on his leg that had caused as well as a little bruise on his rib from when he fell down Ms Knight’s stairs on the previous Tuesday and the blisters on his feet.132 She also mentioned the burn mark on his hand, which she maintained was occasioned on the previous Monday when he grabbed the lighter off the bed after she had lit a smoke.133 Emmett Brown’s first account
Following Ms Sebbens’ video walk-through, Detective Sergeant Briggs conducted an electronically recorded walk-through interview with Mr Brown.134 During that 128 Exhibit #3, V1/19 – Transcript of video walk-through and interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 17 January 2019, p 29, Q&A 306; p 35, Q&A 370-372; p 38, Q&A 401-405.
129 Exhibit #3, V1/19 – Transcript of video walk-through and interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 17 January 2019, pp 36-38, Q&A 384-398.
130 Exhibit #3, V1/19 – Transcript of video walk-through and interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 17 January 2019, pp 28-29, Q&A 303-306.
131 Exhibit #3, V1/19 – Transcript of video walk-through and interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 17 January 2019, p 38, Q&A 399.
132 Exhibit #3, V1/19 – Transcript of video walk-through and interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 17 January 2019, pp 41-42, Q&A 436-451 133 Exhibit #3, V1/19 – Transcript of video walk-through and interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 17 January 2019, p 43, Q&A 455-460.
134 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), p 71, [59].
interview, Mr Brown provided the following account of the night of 12 to 13 January 2019: a. He went to sleep at 8 or 9 pm in the main bedroom and remained asleep until Ms Sebbens found KBS the next day.135 Because of this, he did not go into the kids’ room or have any interaction with the kids during that time and did not touch KBS at all.136 He claimed to have no knowledge of anyone who came to that night or how KBS might have died.137
KBS b. He woke up because he heard Ms Sebbens screaming and saying that was dead.138 They both then ran to Ms Knight’s house.139 He did not enter or look into the kids’ room at that time because he did not want to see a little dead body lying there.140 c. He remained at Ms Knight’s house briefly while Ms Sebbens went back to her
KBS house and when he also went back, he saw that Ms Sebbens had taken from the cot and was holding him out the front of the house.141 He could see that KBS was not alive; he was blue and wasn’t moving at all.142 d. After that, Mr Brown grabbed his clothes from Ms Sebbens’ house and ran to Mr Thomas Snr’s house. This was because he was on the run from police due to unresolved charges in Wollongong.143
KBS e. He had no idea how died and had no interaction with him on the night of 12 to 13 January 2019.144 135 Exhibit #3, V1/26 – Transcript of interview with Emmett Brown of 17 January 2019, pp 2-5, Q&A 6-13, 2122, 29-35.
136 Exhibit #3, V1/26 – Transcript of interview with Emmett Brown of 17 January 2019, pp 10-11, Q&A 98-101; p 13, Q&A 128; p 16, Q&A 164-165.
137 Exhibit #3, V1/26 – Transcript of interview with Emmett Brown of 17 January 2019, p 16, Q&A 162; p 18,
138 Exhibit #3, V1/26 – Transcript of interview with Emmett Brown of 17 January 2019, p 5, Q&A 39-40; p 8,
139 Exhibit #3, V1/26 – Transcript of interview with Emmett Brown of 17 January 2019, p 7, Q&A 59; p 9,
140 Exhibit #3, V1/26 – Transcript of interview with Emmett Brown of 17 January 2019, pp 9-10, Q&A 89-91; p 11, Q&A 106-107; p 13, Q&A 130.
141 Exhibit #3, V1/26 – Transcript of interview with Emmett Brown of 17 January 2019, pp 11-12, Q&A 108-117.
142 Exhibit #3, V1/26 – Transcript of interview with Emmett Brown of 17 January 2019, pp 12-13, Q&A 119-127.
143 Exhibit #3, V1/26 – Transcript of interview with Emmett Brown of 17 January 2019, pp 13-15, Q&A 133-154.
144 Exhibit #3, V1/26 – Transcript of interview with Emmett Brown of 17 January 2019, p 16, Q&A 162-164; p 20, Q&A 202.
CCTV footage
KBS death. During that discussion, Ms Knight told police that on the Friday
KBS morning before he had died, had fallen up her front steps while carrying a coke
KBS bottle. She indicated that had hit his ribs in doing so and got a bruise in that area.145
The following day, 23 January 2019, Ms Knight again contacted police and advised that CCTV cameras were installed at and were recording on the night of 12 to 13 January 2019.146 That same day, Detective Senior Constable Shaw and Detective Sergeant Briggs attended and viewed the relevant CCTV footage. The footage records two different angles of the outside of – with one camera capturing the view from the house to the street and the other capturing the driveways of and
The CCTV footage assists in corroborating witnesses’ accounts and movements throughout the night of 12 to 13 January 2019. In other respects, the footage raises questions to be explored further.
The footage stopped recording at 5:45 am on 13 January 2019 and did not resume recording until 2:36 pm that afternoon.147 Cody Moore (Tilden) – First statement – 25 February 2019
Between mid-January and late February 2019, police made a number of attempts to speak to Mr Moore about his movements on the night of 12 to 13 January 2019. On 25 February 2019, Mr Moore provided a statement to police.148 In that statement, Mr Moore told police that he went to late in the evening of 12 January 2019 and delivered 4-5 cigarettes to Mr Brown. He said that he only stayed a minute or so and did not enter the house.149 He went straight back home and was 145 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), p 76, [66].
146 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019)), p 76, [67].
147 Exhibit #3, V4/98 – Statement of Michael Heikkilae dated 18 July 2024, p 3, [12].
148 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), p 83, [80].
149 Exhibit #3, V2/38 – First Statement of Cody Moore dated 25 February 2019, p 1 of 3, [4].
there for about 20 minutes while he had a shower and got ready to go out to a friend’s house where his mother was.150
From there, he went to a pub and at 12:03 am, caught an Uber from the pub back to his friend’s place where he had a few drinks before walking home to his house with his mother, getting home around 2 am.151 He stayed there for about 20 minutes before walking over to Ms Sebbens’ and knocking on the front door but no one answered and he could not hear anything from inside. He walked next door to Ms Knight’s and knocked but no one answered. As he was walking back home, he got a message from Miss who was looking to buy his Beats headphones, so he turned back towards Ms Knight’s, but no one was home. As he walked back down the driveway, Miss and Ms Knight arrived in a car with a third woman. They all got out and they went into Ms Knight’s; Miss bought the headphones and Mr Moore left after about four minutes and walked straight back home.152
He denied he was at Ms Sebbens’ house at around 4 am on 13 January 2019 and denied he left her place in a taxi.153 Emmett Brown’s second account – 2 April 2019
On 12 March 2019, Mr Brown was arrested and remanded in custody on unrelated charges.154 On 2 April 2019, Detective Senior Constable Shaw and Detective Sergeant Briggs attended the cells at Wagga Wagga Police Station and conducted a further electronically recorded interview with Mr Brown.155 During that interview, Mr Brown maintained that his first account had not changed (that is, that he was asleep from 8 to 9pm) but agreed he was depicted in CCTV footage at 1:22 am on 13 January 2019 carrying a fridge between 5 and He also acknowledged that he had called Mr Moore in the early hours of 13 January 2019.156 150 Exhibit #3, V2/38 – First Statement of Cody Moore dated 25 February 2019, p 1 of 3, [5].
151 Exhibit #3, V2/38 – First Statement of Cody Moore dated 25 February 2019, p 2 of 3, [6].
152 Exhibit #3, V2/38 – First Statement of Cody Moore dated 25 February 2019, p 2 of 3, [6].
153 Exhibit #3, V2/38 – First Statement of Cody Moore dated 25 February 2019, p 3 of 3, [6].
154 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), p 94, [101].
155 Exhibit #3, V1/17 – First Statement of D/Sgt Timothy Briggs dated 20 April 2020, p 6, [27]-[28].
156 Exhibit #3, V1/27 – Transcript of interview with Emmett Brown of 2 April 2019, p 3, Q&A 20-21; p 7, Q&A 44-45; pp 10-11, Q&A 76-81.
Emmett Brown’s third account – 8 April 2019
KBS asleep and was not involved in ’s death. He did, however, concede there was evidence suggesting he was not asleep as claimed. He also acknowledged he went into
KBS KBS ’s bedroom on the morning of 13 January 2019 and discovered was not breathing, alerting Ms Sebbens. He denied any knowledge as to how any injuries were occasioned to KBS 157 Ms Sebbens’ first statement – 2 May 2019
KBS c. At around 1:30 am, and were on the bed in Ms Sebbens’ room
KBS KBS with her. was upset and Mr Brown was jealous of and was making Ms Sebbens feel like she had to choose between Mr Brown and
KBS KBS Mr Brown took into the kids’ room while Ms Sebbens went to
KBS make something to eat. In this time, Ms Sebbens heard a bang type
KBS KBS noise coming from ’s room. She went straight to ’s room and 157 Exhibit #3, V1/17 – First Statement of D/Sgt Timothy Briggs dated 20 April 2020, p 7, [31].
158 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), p 99, [121].
159 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019.
160 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 1, [5]-[6].
161 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 1, [5].
KBS was sitting in his cot crying like he was hurt. Ms Sebbens asked
KBS Mr Brown what the noise was, and he said, “Nothing, is just being a
KBS sook”. She asked Mr Brown if he threw or put in the cot and Mr Brown said, “Why would I throw him?”.162
KBS d. Mr Brown then left the room and Ms Sebbens picked up to comfort
KBS him. was upset and sobbing like he was hurt. He was making a “sobbing and sneezing type sound”. Ms Sebbens comforted him then put him back in his cot and collected the highchair, a vegemite sandwich and a Sippy cup of milk.
KBS When she returned to the room, was still sobbing. She put him in his highchair and left him and his sibling to eat and watch TV.163 At that time, Mr Brown was in the front room with Mr Moore.164
KBS e. About ten minutes later, Ms Sebbens returned. had not eaten much of his sandwich or drunk much of his milk, which was unusual. He was drained and quiet, which was also unusual. He was wearing his nappy and little Robin underpants, and she put him in his cot and put his blanket over him and left the room. She thinks this was at about 2 am.165 She believes the TV, fan and night light were all on a that time.166
KBS KBS f. She checked on and turned the TV off sometime later. was in the same position in which she had left him and there was nothing which made her think he was anything other than asleep.167 g. About 3:30 am, she messaged a friend to borrow a lighter even though Mr Brown and Mr Moore had a lighter in the front room. Her friend brought a lighter over and Ms Sebbens met her out the front. Thereafter, Ms Sebbens stayed in her room until Ms Knight came with McDonalds at which point, she went next door and collected the McDonalds. She believes Mr Moore left at 162 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 2, [8].
163 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 2, [8]-[9].
164 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 2, [9].
165 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 3, [10]-[11].
166 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 3, [11].
167 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 3, [12].
about that time on foot and her cousins Ms Thomas and Mr Thomas Jnr arrived in a taxi.168 h. Ms Sebbens returned to her house with the McDonalds and took it into her bedroom with Mr Brown. Ms Thomas and Mr Thomas Jnr came over about 5 minutes later, staying for about 20 minutes.169 i. After her cousins left, she and Mr Brown smoked cannabis before going to sleep. After smoking about three cones, Ms Sebbens lay down in her bed to go to sleep. She thinks this was at about 6 am. Mr Brown did not go to sleep with her and told her that he was going into the front room to smoke Ice.170 j. She woke up at about 10 am from crying. This was unusual. Also unusual was her position in the bed; Ms Sebbens usually sleeps closest to the door so as to be closest to the children but on this occasion, Mr Brown was closest to the door. Further, the bedroom door was closed, and she never closes the door when her kids are at home. Mr Brown was beside her in bed and looked like he was pretending to be asleep. She asked him why the door was shut, and he told her it was because he “had a draw” in the bedroom (that is, smoked Ice).171 k. She went to the kids’ room and found crying, which was out of character. She settled with a bottle and left the room, not taking any notice of KBS She then went back to bed.172 l. She woke again at about 10:30 am to a strong smell of what she thought was poo. She and Mr Brown both got out of bed and went into the kids’ room.
KBS Mr Brown went in first and approached , which was out of character.
Mr Brown then tapped KBS and said, “Babe, he’s not breathing.”173 m. She and Mr Brown both ran out of the room and went straight over to
KBS Ms Knight’s, and she told Ms Knight that was not breathing, and he 168 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 3, [13]-[14].
169 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 3, [15]-[16].
170 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 4, [17]-[18].
171 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 4, [19].
172 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 5, [20].
173 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 5, [23]-[24].
was blue. She remained there for about two or three minutes before returning
KBS to her house and getting out of the cot and taking him to the front veranda. Mr Brown then came to her and told her he was going down the road because the police were coming.174
KBS n. After ’s death was reported to police and before Tonnisha did her walkthrough interview, she and Mr Brown spoke about what she would say to police about that night. Mr Brown did not want her to tell police that he was there and did not want her to tell police that he was still awake when she went to sleep. He was concerned police would blame him for KBS ’s death.175 o. She did not previously tell the police the truth as she was really scared of Mr Brown. He had a violent past and was physically and verbally violent towards her. This included punching her in the nose and hitting her over the head. She was also pregnant to Mr Brown at the time and did not want to get him into trouble as she was having his child.176
KBS p. Mr Brown was really jealous of her relationship with He would get
KBS angry and did not want Ms Sebbens to go to or pick him up. He was always calling KBS a sook and was really nasty to him.177
KBS KBS q. She lied to police when she said burned his hand on her lighter.
was with Mr Brown when he sustained the burn. She asked Mr Brown what
KBS had happened, and he told her had grabbed the lighter and burned himself. She did not believe Mr Brown and knew Mr Brown had burned
KBS 178 Cody Moore (Tilden) – Second statement – 14 May 2019
175 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 6, [26].
176 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 6, [27]-[28].
177 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 6, [29].
178 Exhibit #3, V1/20 – First Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 3 May 2019, p 7, [31] 179 Exhibit #3, V1/12 – DSC Shaw 09.06.2019 (signed 16.08.2019), p 113, [127].
year thereafter, on 11 May 2020, Mr Moore provided a further statement. In that statement, he relevantly said: a. The details he provided in his first statement were correct except that he did not sell his Beats headphones to Miss but swapped them for a gel blaster.180 b. When he got home after swapping the Beats for the gel blaster, he received a message from Mr Brown to go back and see him. As he walked back to , he met Mr Brown who was on his motorbike and had a flat tyre. Mr Brown told him that he and Ms Sebbens had a fight, and he was not allowed back at the house and was trying to ride to Wollongong. They both went to together so Mr Moore could ask Tonnisha to let Mr Brown back in the house.181 He had a conversation with Ms Sebbens about Mr Brown coming back and she told him Emmet could come back, and they could come in but only into the back room of the house.182 c. He and Mr Brown went inside the bedroom at the back of the house and smoked cannabis together.183 He was in the house for about 30-40 minutes
KBS and then left. When he left, he saw Ms Sebbens with on a mattress on
KBS the floor in the front bedroom of the house. Both Ms Sebbens and were awake and alert.184 d. After he got back home, Mr Brown called him at about 6 am and asked him to return and smoke drugs. He declined and stayed at home.185 Ms Sebbens’ second, third and fourth statements
The investigation into ’s death continued through 2019, 2020 and 2021.
On 12 December 2019, Ms Sebbens made a statement to police in which she briefly described instances of violence committed by Mr Brown upon her during their 180 Exhibit #3, V2/39 – Second Statement of Cody Moore dated 14 May 2020, p 2, [8].
181 Exhibit #3, V2/39 – Second Statement of Cody Moore dated 14 May 2020, p 2, [9]-[11].
182 Exhibit #3, V2/39 – Second Statement of Cody Moore dated 14 May 2020, p 2, [11].
183 Exhibit #3, V2/39 – Second Statement of Cody Moore dated 14 May 2020, p 3, [12].
184 Exhibit #3, V2/39 – Second Statement of Cody Moore dated 14 May 2020, p 3, [13].
185 Exhibit #3, V2/39 – Second Statement of Cody Moore dated 14 May 2020, p 3, [14].
relationship. These included punching her, giving her black eyes, throwing an iPhone at her leg, punching her in the face, and making her nose bleed, choking her, and hitting her in the head with a hammer.186
On 17 September 2020, Ms Sebbens provided a further statement in which she described in greater detail instances of domestic violence committed by Mr Brown upon her, including in the presence of her children.187
On 18 January 2022, Ms Sebbens provided a further statement regarding the night of 12 to 13 January 2019. In doing so, she informed police that an unrelated event had caused her to have a “flash back.” She told police:
KBS a. She remembered that before Mr Brown took into his bedroom (as
KBS explained in her 3 May 2019 account), he was “play wrestling” with
KBS She explained that at first was laughing, but Mr Brown became
KBS rougher and dropped his left shoulder into ’s lower stomach area.
KBS looked shocked and winded and immediately started to cry.188
KBS b. She got up and went towards but Mr Brown pushed her away and
KBS walked off with towards the kids’ room, following which she heard the bang type noise.189
KBS c. She was too scared to go to because she was scared of Mr Brown because he was very violent towards her.190
187 Exhibit #3, V1/24 – Third Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 17 September 2020.
188 Exhibit #3, V1/25 – Fourth Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 18 January 2022, p 2, [7].
189 Exhibit #3, V1/25 – Fourth Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 18 January 2022, p 2, [7].
190 Exhibit #3, V1/25 – Fourth Statement of Tonnisha Sebbens dated 18 January 2022, p 2, [8].
191 Exhibit #3, V3/28A – Transcript of Interview with Emmett Brown dated 17 August 2022.
Cause of death
KBS laceration was of external force being applied to and that the degree of force to cause such an injury would have been moderate to severe on the upper abdomen.
KBS of ’s death was blunt force trauma to the abdomen resulting in acute blood loss (250 mL) which was approximately a quarter of KBS ’s circulating blood volume.195
Dr Cala said in his report that the mechanism for the splenic laceration “may have been from a direct blow such as a forceful punch or kick”.196
In turn, Dr Marks said the splenic laceration was “significant and extensive” and would have been caused by significant forceful trauma to his abdomen, such as might occur in a motor vehicle accident, a fall from a significant height, a sports injury, physical blows to the abdomen, stabbing or gunshot.197 192 Exhibit #3, V1/10 – Paediatric Autopsy Report of Dr Allan Cala dated 12 September 2019, p 4 of 15 [6].
193 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, pp 18, 25.
194 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, p 32. See also at p 19.
195 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, p 18.
196 Exhibit #3, V1/10 – Paediatric Autopsy Report of Dr Allan Cala dated 12 September 2019, p 9 of 15.
197 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, p 20.
KBS laceration to ’s spleen for several reasons, including the mechanism and timing of the incident.198 She also addressed another possible explanation that Mr Brown
KBS KBS tackled into the mattress and dropped his left shoulder into ’s lower stomach, and said that type of event could potentially cause an injury to the spleen if there was sufficient penetration of the abdomen with significant force, but the event as
KBS described would not explain the extent of ’s injuries including the multiple posterior rib fractures or the injury to the right adrenal gland.199
Dr Marks concluded that ’s splenic laceration could have been caused by a direct KBS (forceful) blow to ’s abdomen such as a punch or kick and that it would not be explained by normal care.200
Both experts maintained these opinions in their oral evidence. Specifically, Dr Cala opined that the only potential cause of the splenic laceration was that of external force
KBS being applied to and said the degree of force required would be moderate to severe. He further said the laceration could have been caused by the application of a single blow involving “quite a severe amount of force” or the application of multiple blows “in the one area” of moderate to severe force.201 Dr Marks agreed with Dr Cala, adding, “it’s possible that the injury started, or there was a beginning of a laceration to the spleen, from a blow, and then, if there were repeated blows, that laceration could spread, as in, extend further into the spleen”.202
KBS When did receive the fatal injury?
198 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, p 20.
199 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, p 21.
200 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, p 22.
KBS laceration such that death was not immediate and it would be expected that would have progressed through the stages of shock over a small number of hours after the injury occurred.205
KBS can start to develop 1-4 hours after death, leading her to the view that ’s time of death could have been after 5:00 am but well before he was seen at 10:30 am.206
Both experts expanded upon these conclusions in their oral evidence. In particular, both experts believed that given the size of the splenic laceration, signs of shock would have become evident within about 15 to 20 minutes following the infliction of the blunt force trauma to KBS ’s abdomen.207 As to the likely period between the onset of shock and the resulting death from the splenic laceration, Dr Cala said:208 “It may be 20 minutes to half an hour, slightly longer, slightly less than that. As I said it’s a significant injury and there’s no first aid given to staunch the blood flow, so blood is continuing to accumulate into the abdominal cavity in a small person, and I would suspect that he may have succumbed within possibly half an hour.”
Later in his evidence, Dr Cala said the presence of focal fibrin deposition and a moderate KBS mixed inflammatory cell infiltrate within the haemorrhage indicated that survived for a period of time following the application of the blunt force trauma, 203 Exhibit #3, V1/10 – Paediatric Autopsy Report of Dr Allan Cala dated 12 September 2019, p 6 of 15.
204 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, p 31.
205 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, p 30.
206 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, p 31.
possibly for approximately 45 to 60 minutes.209 Dr Cala ultimately said the time of the
KBS splenic laceration relative to the time of ’s death would likely have been between around one to two hours.210
KBS a number of hours. Specifically, Dr Cala opined that may have been deceased for “possibly three to four”, or even five hours, based on the degree of apparent general
KBS rigor mortis described by Ms Sebbens when she picked up from his cot. He
KBS concluded that ’s likely time of death was between around 4:00 am and 6:00 am.212
What were the other injuries that were found at autopsy?
212 T142.49 – T144.20 and T147.04-07.
213 Exhibit #3, V1/10 – Paediatric Autopsy Report of Dr Allan Cala dated 12 September 2019, p 4 of 15.
214 Exhibit #3, V1/10 – Paediatric Autopsy Report of Dr Allan Cala dated 12 September 2019, p 4 of 15.
215 Exhibit #3, V1/10 – Paediatric Autopsy Report of Dr Allan Cala dated 12 September 2019, p 5 of 15.
d. bruises to the posterior and anterior scalp, as well as the presence of an old haemorrhage to the right inferior frontal regional on the surface of the brain;216 and e. burns to both feet, the left hand and possibly the outer right ankle, with the burn to the left hand having a very distinctive patterned injury consistent with being caused by the heated end of a cigarette lighter.217
KBS bruises indicative of recent episodes of blunt force impact trauma to ’s head, multiple recent bruises to his torso, thigh and leg and blotchy haemorrhage in musculature in each side of the lower torso as well as older injuries such as an old haemorrhage to the right inferior frontal region on the surface of his brain, a patterned burn with features typical of a burn inflicted by the heated end of a cigarette lighter, an excessive quantity of patterned scars for his age and burns to his feet that were not consistent with walking on hot pavement.219
217 Exhibit #3, V1/10 – Paediatric Autopsy Report of Dr Allan Cala dated 12 September 2019, p 5 of 15.
218 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, p 36.
219 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, pp 36-38.
KBS not apparently observed by persons who interacted with in the 24 hours before he died, despite being very easy to see and quite extensive. In these circumstances, she formed the view based on the available clinical information that the bruises were less than 24 hours old.224
KBS sole of the foot had a very similar shape to the burn to ’s left hand, possibly also having been caused by the top of a cigarette lighter.229
KBS impact trauma to ’s head, and “were not in keeping with normal activity and play.230 For his part, Dr Cala agreed, disputing that these injuries could have been caused by KBS banging his head against the floor231 saying that while that might account for the forehead bruises, the bruises were at various locations on the head, which discounted any self-inflicted head-banging as being causative of the bruises.232 In
227 T101.47 – T102.01, T104.05-20 and T106.11-17.
230 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, p 36.
231 Exhibit #3, V1/18 – Transcript of interview with Tonnisha Sebbens of 13 January 2019, pp 22-26, Q&A 261308.
turn, Dr Marks added, “I agree that head-banging might cause bruising to the forehead, but I don’t think it would cause bruising to multiple planes of his head”.233
KBS areas on multiple occasions. He further said that in his opinion, the bruises to ’s right inner thigh were caused by a person forcibly grabbing the thigh, with a fingernail scratch occurring at one side of the bruise.234 Dr Marks agreed with this opinion in her report, stating, “[t]hese injuries would not have resulted from normal activity and play, but from forceful inflicted injuries”.235 Both experts maintained these opinions in their oral evidence.236
In considering the rib fractures, Dr Cala said in his report that trauma to the abdomen by CPR does not explain the injuries detected to the ribs (or, for that matter, the spleen or retroperitoneum) as the rib fractures were in the posterior lower chest in an area well away from where CPR is performed. He further noted that CPR rib fractures are very rare in children, especially of a young age.237 Dr Marks broadly agreed with this opinion, commenting that a significant amount of force would be required to cause the rib fractures and they would not be expected to result from normal / routine daily handling. She further noted the low incidence of accidental rib fractures in young children can be explained by the fact that their chests are more malleable than that of an older child, such that their ribs will deform rather than break, unless major force is exerted.238
Both experts considered the likely mechanism for the rib fractures in their oral evidence.
Specifically, both experts considered the rib fractures could have been sustained through one severe blow or multiple blows, with Dr Cala favouring there having been more than one blow.239
234 Exhibit #3, V1/10 – Paediatric Autopsy Report of Dr Allan Cala dated 12 September 2019, p 4 of 15.
235 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, p 36.
237 Exhibit #3, V1/10 – Paediatric Autopsy Report of Dr Allan Cala dated 12 September 2019, p 5 of 15.
238 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, pp 22-23.
KBS He further said that was 14 months old at the time of his death and would not have been capable of causing such an injury to himself. As for the burns to the feet, Dr Cala said they were focal (over a small area) and disputed that the history provided (hot pavement) caused these injuries as he would expect more diffuse burns to the soles of the feet in such a circumstance.240 Dr Marks agreed with these opinions, and said of
KBS the burns to ’s feet, “[i]f these burns had occurred as a result of walking on hot
KBS pavement, it would be expected that would have had more diffuse burns on the weight bearing aspects of the soles of his feet; this is not what was seen in KBS ”.241
In oral evidence, both experts rejected the possibility that could have accidentally inflicted the burn to his hand by picking up a cigarette lighter that had recently been used and opined that the burn must have been inflicted by a third person.242 As for the burns to the feet, Dr Marks considered that one of the burns to the feet had a curvilinear pattern similar to burn to the left hand burn.243 Otherwise, both experts maintained the opinions in their reports that the distribution of the burns to the soles of the feet was not consistent with a child walking on hot pavement.244
I do not propose to comment on the significance of the injuries for the reason I set out below.
KBS What was the manner or the circumstances surrounding ’s death?
241 Exhibit #3, V13/161 – Expert Report of Dr Susan Marks dated 5 September 2024, p 38.
KBS investigation. I am satisfied ’s death is suspicious and I will refer the matter to the unsolved homicide unit.
KBS Was the risk of death or serious injury to assessed and managed by FACS/DCJ and/or Mission Australia through the Brighter Futures program?
Caseworker B
Caseworker B
Caseworker A Caseworker B
Caseworker B
KBS observed food and formula and Ms Sebbens holding appropriately, and
KBS running around and Ms Sebbens asking her to be careful near DCJ manager Caseworker B
KBS assessment determined that and his sister, were not at risk of significant harm within the immediate assessment period as Mr Bamblett was in
custody. The Alternate Assessment stated that Ms Sebbens was currently engaged with the Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service (WDVCAS) for assistance with information, advocacy and referrals related to domestic violence and was being DCJ manager referred to Wagga Family Support. This assessment was approved by .
casework B Caseworker B
Caseworker B Caseworker A
KBS into childcare.
Caseworker B
On 26 February 2018 made the referral of Ms Sebbens to Wagga Family DCJ manager Support and approved it. The referral noted that Ms Sebbens required casework B assistance with dealing with past domestic violence and in developing skills in child rearing and family relationships. It included reference to Mr Bamblett engaging in domestic violence incidents involving knives and threats to harm and kill Ms Sebbens including while the youngest child had been present.
In emails from 28 February 2018 to 1 March 2018 between Senior Constable Madonna Bedgood and a DCJ caseworker, DCJ was informed that Mr Bamblett was bail refused until his next court date, being 21 May 2018. The emails also set out Mr Bamblett’s extensive criminal record which related to domestic abuse and violence.
Caseworker B
Caseworker B asked about Mr Bamblett and Ms Sebbens said he was yet to be sentenced.
Caseworker B also confirmed the referral to Wagga Family Support had been made and that Ms Sebbens should hear from them soon.
Caseworker B
casework B
In August 2018 DCJ received a Risk of Serious Harm Report with concerns about Ms Sebbens’ lifestyle, drug use and associated neglect of the children. DCJ say that they did not conduct a safety assessment as this was a different risk from a risk of violence from a partner and they were aware Ms Sebbens was not living with the children and that the children were in the care of Ms Knight.
On 11 October 2018 Mission Australia accepted a referral of the Bamblett/Knight family to the Brighter Futures program. Mission Australia’s engagement related to providing practical support to the family such as clothing, bedding, furniture, dignity bags, assistance to enrol the children in childcare and access structured parenting programs, assistance with medical appointments including childhood immunisations and assistance with applying for Centrelink subsidy assistance.
Initially Mission Australia’s home visits were limited to where Ms Knight resided. The home visits expanded to when Ms Sebbens returned to live in the Wagga Wagga area in November 2018.
The Brighter Futures case manager, Ms Bainbridge, asked Ms Sebbens whether she was still using drugs and Ms Sebbens had told her she was not using drugs. Ms Sebbens’ mother also told the case manager that Ms Sebbens was “clean” and that she would not allow Ms Sebbens to have contact with the children otherwise.245
KBS her that slept in the cot when she stayed over and slept in a portable cot, which was at her mother’s house at the time of the home visit.247
246 Exhibit #3, V5/110 – Second Statement of Amanda Bainbridge dated 4 July 2024, [28]; Transcript
247 Exhibit #3, V5/110 – Second Statement of Amanda Bainbridge dated 4 July 2024 [32].
248 Exhibit #3, V5/110 – Second Statement of Amanda Bainbridge dated 4 July 2024, [5].
KBS occasion Ms Bainbridge sighted She did not see him or and was not invited inside either at 5 or when she conducted further home visits on 10 December 2018 and 19 December 2018.
By 19 December 2018, it was apparent to Ms Bainbridge that both children were now living with Ms Sebbens at which prompted her to call DCJ to inform them of the changes in living circumstances. She also wanted to let DCJ know that there had been a shift towards disengagement by the family and that Mission Australia would be closed for two weeks over Christmas. Unfortunately, there was no answer, she left a voice message requesting a call back.249
After the Christmas break Ms Bainbridge followed up her message to DCJ with an email informing them that she had done a couple of cold visits, and she could hear people in the house, both in Ms Knight and Ms Sebbens’ house, but the doors weren’t answered.
She was concerned that they were avoiding her.
Unfortunately, that email was never received by DCJ. The most likely explanation is that it was marked as spam and never reached the intended email inbox.250 This meant that DCJ was not appraised of the change in engagement.
As a voluntary program, Brighter Futures case managers do not have any statutory right to enter a participant’s home without being invited, the program is voluntary.251 This means Mission Australia cannot compel participating families to engage with its processes, including processes directed towards conducting safety and risk assessments. This created challenges in getting information that might be required to properly assess safety as families were often reluctant to share information. This
KBS effectively meant that when ’s family disengaged with Brighter Futures in late 2018 and early 2019, there was very little Brighter Futures could do, beyond closing its file and referring the matter back to DCJ.252
250 Exhibit #3, V10/142 – Statement of Katherine Alexander dated 29 August 2024, [101]-[104].
252 Exhibit #3, V5/112 – Statement of Louise Clarke dated 5 July 2024, p 13.
KBS been received it is unlikely that DCJ would have taken any action prior to ’s death on 13 January 2019. This is because it did not contain any information that would cause
KBS DCJ to have concerns about the immediate safety of and or and did not contain any information about Ms Sebbens’ new partner or whether he was staying in her home, or whether it was suspected that he and or Ms Sebbens were using drugs.253
Ms Bainbridge said that at no time during her interactions with Ms Knight or Ms Sebbens was she aware that Ms Sebbens’ boyfriend was living in the house. She was given the impression that he was living in Wollongong, and he would only come for a visit. She never sighted him.254
DCJ were not aware Ms Sebbens had commenced a relationship with Mr Brown prior KBS KBS to ’s death and only became aware of the relationship after ’s death.
Neither agency had any knowledge, or even suspicion, that Mr Brown was residing at in November, December 2018 and up to 13 January 2019 and accordingly, an assessment was never done of the risk he posed to the family.
Ms Alexander explained that this would have been significant information, as Mr Brown was recorded in DCJ records as a “Person Causing Harm”, which operates as a safety alert for caseworkers when they are required to make decisions about the current or future safety and welfare of a child.255
254 Exhibit #3, V5/109 – Second Statement of Amanda Bainbridge dated 4 July 2024, [15]. See also Transcript 19.05.2025, T64.08-40 and T72.21-40.
255 Exhibit #3, V10/142 – Statement of Katherine Alexander dated 29 August 2024, [107]-[108].
time, the opportunity to hold Mr Bamblett accountable for his violence towards Ms Sebbens and his children was lost.
KBS management of the risk of death or serious injury to was effectively precluded by the failure of Ms Sebbens and her family to disclose the fact of the relationship and Mr Brown’s presence at in the period leading up to and at the time
KBS of ’s death, and the use of crystal methamphetamine (Ice) in the household.
KBS ’s death and accordingly there has been no trial.
KBS circumstances surrounding ’s death.
KBS gain an understanding of what occurred on the night of ’s death.
I acknowledge the painful uncertainty of not knowing the details of the circumstances KBS KBS surrounding ’s death and acknowledge that ’s cruel death has devastated his family and friends. I offer my heartfelt condolences and sympathy.
I recommend that his death be referred to the NSW Police Unsolved Homicide Unit for ongoing investigation in accordance with the protocols and procedures of that unit.
Findings pursuant to s 81(1), Coroners Act 2009
KBS died on 13 January 2019. The place of his death was Ashmont, NSW. The cause of his death was blunt force abdominal trauma. The available evidence does not enable me to make a finding as to the manner of his death.
Recommendations pursuant to s 82(1), Coroners Act 2009 To the Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Force:
KBS I recommend that the death of be referred to the NSW Police Unsolved Homicide Unit for ongoing investigation in accordance with the protocols and procedures of that unit.
Magistrate Carmel Forbes Deputy State Coroner 28 August 2025 Coroners Court of NSW at Lidcombe
Jeremy Webb, 16, died from anaphylaxis due to mammalian meat allergy (tick-induced) which triggered status asthmaticus. He had experienced red meat reactions since age 10 and a severe respiratory event in April 2021 that…
Jacob, a premature infant born at 29 weeks, was discharged from neonatal care at 11 weeks old and presented to hospital three days later with a subarachnoid haemorrhage and periorbital bruising. Despite being assessed as…
Jade, a 3-year-old First Nations child, died from bilateral bronchopneumonia with neglect as a significant contributing factor. Her death was wholly preventable. The coroner identified critical failures: DCJ's Muswellbro…
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. Some material may have been redacted or restricted by court order or privacy requirements. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries are for educational purposes only and must not be treated as legal documents. Report an inaccuracy.