Illya blog

Australian guilty of throwing daughter off bridge

Australian child protection officials Tuesday called for an urgent review of custody dispute protocols after a father was found guilty of throwing his daughter off a bridge "like a rag doll".

Victoria's Child Safety Commissioner Bernie Geary said he had examined the case and wanted a review of the rules between courts and officials where there were concerns about the safety of a child.

"We just need to maintain vigilance and this case reminds us of the importance of the best interests of the child," Geary said.

On Monday, the Victorian Supreme Court convicted father-of-three Arthur Freeman, 37, of murdering daughter Darcey by tossing her like "a rag doll" over the railing of Melbourne's West Gate Bridge on January 29, 2009.

The four-year-old plunged 58 metres (190 feet), sustaining massive internal injuries and ultimately drowning in a case that shocked the city.

Minutes before he killed Darcey, Freeman telephoned his former partner Peta Barnes, who had been waiting at the school where their daughter was to due to start the day, and told her: "Say goodbye to your children".

He then parked on the bridge, left his two sons aged two and six in the car and picked up the little girl and threw her to her death.

The court heard that Darcey's six-year-old brother Ben told police his sister "didn't even scream" in her fall.

"I said 'go back and get her. Darcey can't swim'. But he kept on driving. He didn't go back and get her," he said in a taped interview played to the court.

Freeman drove to the Federal Law Courts complex in Melbourne where he started sobbing uncontrollably and was arrested.

His lawyer argued that Freeman was mentally impaired at the time, but the prosecution said it was a simple case of spousal revenge after an acrimonious break-up of his seven-year marriage.

The jury, who had been asked to decide whether Freeman was "mad or bad", late Monday found him guilty, some members sobbing as the decision was read out.

Geary said in Darcey's case child protection authorities had not been informed the little girl's family held fears for her safety and that of her two brothers.

"I don't want to be blaming people," he said.

"I think that there's too many people grieving here now, obviously, but I just do think that this is an opportunity for the community and professional cohorts to look at ways in which we can better protect children."

Freeman will be sentenced at a later date.