The father of a girl who died in a hot car warned child services “in vain” that her mother regularly used illegal hard drugs, an inquest has heard.
Darcey-Helen Conley, 2, and Chloe-Ann, 18 months, died on November 23, 2019 in Waterford West, south of Brisbane, after the car they were traveling in reached an estimated temperature of 61, 5°C.
Their mother, Kerri-Ann Conley, had left them in the car outside her house since 4 a.m. after returning from a trip to a friend’s house and using methamphetamine.
Conley pleaded guilty in February 2023 to two counts of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to nine years in prison to be eligible for parole in November 2024.
Darcey-Helen Conley’s father Peter Jackson (pictured) had warned child services that the toddler’s mother was using drugs.
An inquest in Brisbane on Tuesday heard from Darcey’s father, Peter Jackson, who testified he called Queensland Child Safety four to six times in the two weeks before the girls’ deaths.
‘My concern (was) about the drug use between Darcey and Chloe. I also informed them about the (meth pipes and small ziplock bags) I found walking around the house, the pigsty the house was in…to no avail. “No one seemed to be listening,” Jackson said.
The investigation will examine the adequacy of the Department of Child Safety’s response and the adequacy of its policies and procedures prior to the girls’ deaths.
According to the investigation, the department also received a welfare notification about Darcey after Jackson took her to the hospital because he suspected she had been exposed to methamphetamine.
A doctor told the department on Nov. 3, 2019, that Darcey had no signs of poisoning based on a general examination without a blood or urine test.
The doctor also recorded Mr Jackson’s concerns at the time.
‘Mr Jackson reported seeing pipes and needles in the house. “The father has been informed that Ms. Conley regularly uses methamphetamine at home,” the doctor said.
Jackson said one of the first calls he made was about a text message he received from Conley in late October 2019.
Kerri-Ann Conley is serving a nine-year prison sentence for the involuntary manslaughter of her daughters, who were less than three years old when they were left to die in a hot car.
Chloe-Ann Conley. Photo: facebook
‘I have Chloe in the car. I woke up at 2 in the morning. I left Chloe in the car. Oops,” Conley’s message read.
Jackson said he responded as anyone else would to that message.
‘I responded to the ‘what the fuck?’ effect. “I was a little taken aback,” Mr. Jackson said.
He said he had seen Conley try to remove traces of drugs from her system and she told him she had purchased synthetic urine in an attempt to test negative.
The department’s attorney, Timothy Ryan, asked Mr. Jackson if he was wrong in making calls to Child Safety between June and November 2019, including calls that mentioned Conley had left Chloe in the car and claimed he was trafficking drugs.
Ryan said the department had no records of him making those calls.
Jackson said he made the calls anonymously but used his own cell phone.
The investigation continues.
A former child care worker testified this week that Darcey-Helen Conley (pictured) said the child seemed tired, had low energy and appeared neglected and hungry during her final months at day care.