A 38-YEAR-OLD Southern Tasmanian babysitter was yesterday sentenced to nine months' jail for assaulting a toddler who died in her care last year.
However, because of time the woman had already spent in custody, she walked free from court.
Fiona Maree Garth, of Claremont, was initially charged with Liam Robert Osborne's murder but a pathology report was unable to determine the cause of the four-year-old's death so the charge was replaced with one of assault.
Ms Garth admitted she unlawfully assaulted Liam by grabbing him by the arms and striking him to the body.
Before the murder charge was downgraded, Ms Garth spent nine months in custody.
Yesterday Justice Peter Evans backdated her sentence, meaning she was not required to return to prison.
Justice Evans said the "subterfuge and evasions" Ms Garth engaged in when she discovered Liam was dead must have caused added distress for those who loved and cared for Liam.
The court heard that on the night of June 25 last year, Liam and his twin brother, Aiden, attended a sleepover at Ms Garth's Claremont unit at the request of her then six-year- old son.
Justice Evans said Liam had a bath some time after 8.30pm.
He said the other boys had bathed earlier and they had made Garth angry.
"As Liam bathed, he also provoked the defendant's wrath. She grabbed him and struck him with her hand on five occasions," Justice Evans said.
"On one occasion she struck him to the buttocks with an egg flip, causing the imprint of the egg flip to be imprinted on his buttocks."
Justice Evans said a subsequent examination of Liam revealed multiple bruises and abrasions of the head, face, neck, limbs and torso.
"The defendant is responsible for some of those injuries," he said.
Crown prosecutor Daryl Coates, SC, said Liam died before midnight and that Ms Garth drove to his father and stepmother's home at 5.20 the following morning, telling them Liam was asleep and would not wake.
The court heard they found Liam stiff and cold in front of the heater.
Mr Coates said an ambulance was called and that the child's father attempted to resuscitate him.
An autopsy found Liam had myocarditis and asthma - neither of which had been diagnosed before his death.
"The actual cause of death is unknown; there could have been a number of different causes," Mr Coates said.
Ms Garth's lawyer Bruce McTaggart said his client had been involved in two abusive relationships, one of which lasted for 10 years.
He said the abuse she suffered meant she had no interest in a future intimate relationship and that she had low self-esteem.
Mr McTaggart said at the time of Liam's death, Ms Garth was struggling to keep up with the demands of parenting and was also suffering chronic back pain from an earlier workplace injury that was affecting her ability to sleep.
He said she also had an issue with substance abuse.
Mr McTaggart said Ms Garth had not intended to hit Liam hard and that she regretted doing so.
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