WARNING: This story contains details that some readers may find distressing.
A Perth mother accused of starving her emaciated daughter thought the orange marks around her mouth that doctors identified as a key marker of malnutrition were because the girl had been eating carrots and pumpkin, a Perth court has heard.
The mother, and the girl’s father – who cannot be identified to protect the identity of their daughter – are on trial in the District Court, accused of causing suffering to their only child, who was taken into hospital days before her 17th birthday in 2021 weighing just 27 kilograms.
As well as her weight — considered average for a nine-year-old — hospital staff noted her thinning, brittle hair, dry skin that was yellow in tone, diminutive stature and the orange marks around her mouth as signs of malnutrition, the court heard.
She had not gone through puberty, and she behaved like a much younger child the court heard.
The girl’s mother on Wednesday told the court she hadn’t noticed anything unusual about her daughter’s appearance in the years prior to her hospitalisation because she had always been small for her age.
“That’s just the way she was,” the mother said, adding that “it never crossed [her] mind” her daughter might be malnourished.
She said the reason her daughter's skin was orange was because she ate carrots and pumpkin, which can cause a condition called carotenemia.
"It [her skin] goes more orangey if she eats carrots ... and pumpkin," she said.
She said the condition of her hair could be due to her daughter's long, hot showers of up to 40 minutes, while her delayed puberty was genetic - she herself had been a late developer.
The teenager went into state care shortly after her parents took her to hospital on the advice of a GP in April 2021.
The court has heard this was after they refused to allow the hospital to insert a feeding tube to provide essential nutrition for their malnourished daughter.
During her trial, the mother was taken through a series of pictures of her daughter from 2018 to 2021, several of which were taken in the company of other girls at her dance school who were about two years younger than her.
State prosecutor Jenha Winter asked the mother if she agreed her daughter was much skinnier and shorter than the other girls.
The mother didn’t agree, arguing the angle of the photos sometimes made her daughter appear smaller than she was.
In one set of photos taken in 2021 when the girl was almost 17, Ms Winter said the teenager's collarbone, pelvis and hips were protruding, there were dark marks under her eyes and her leotard, which was designed for a six to eight year-old, was baggy against her tiny frame.
Again the mother disagreed with the description, saying rather than showing her daughter was malnourished, the photos were taken at an “odd angle”, the leotard was old and needed replacing, and the photo “was clearly taken to try to make her arms look more strange”.
'I figured that's just her'
Earlier in the day, the mother became emotional, at one point causing the case to be adjourned for several minutes so she could compose herself.
She was adamant in her repeated denials that no-one had raised concerns with her about her daughter’s health, including her own family members.
The mother admitted she had a difficult relationship with her father and sister because they had been providing information to the Department of Communities about her daughter.
She said she held them at least partly responsible for her daughter being admitted to hospital.
However, she denied the relationship with her relatives had broken down because they had repeatedly raised concerns about the teenager’s weight and health.
She told the court she had taken her daughter to hospital on several occasions as a very young child because of feeding issues, including a reluctance to transition to solids and problems with the texture of food.
Under cross-examination from Ms Winter, she said this was because she recognised poor nutrition could lead to physical and developmental harm.
But she fervently denied the suggestion that her daughter exhibited all the signs of malnutrition between 2019 and 2021 – including discoloured yellow-orange skin, a lack of muscle, failure to thrive and a failure to gain weight.
“I figured that’s just her, there’s nothing could be done,” she told the court.
She also insisted her daughter had continued to grow “a lot” in height.
She also disagreed with Ms Winter that the reason her daughter was underweight with an unusually small stature was because of inadequate nutrition.
Daughter returned home
After she was released from hospital, the teenager went to live with her paternal uncle and aunt but ultimately left that placement and other carers were found.
But her mother denied Ms Winter’s suggestion that this was because she and her husband kept interfering with the way they were caring for her, leading them to relinquish her.
She also revealed her daughter had returned to the family home as soon as she turned 18 and was no longer under the care of the department, but denied Ms Winter’s suggestion that she was still her daughter’s caregiver.
She said although she and her husband continued to financially support her, the now 20-year-old did have a job as a ballet teacher.
The trial is continuing.
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