Perth mum Holly Anne Maxwell avoids jail after filming herself assaulting her own baby

A young mother who admitted tying a cord around her seven-month-old baby’s neck and stuffing socks in his mouth before sending the disturbing images and photographs to her ex has avoided jail.

Holly Anne Maxwell, 27, admitted to filming several attacks on her young son to “emotionally manipulate” the child’s father following the couple’s separation at the end of 2022.

The former nurse was sentenced to an 18-month intensive supervision order on Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to four charges at Perth Magistrates Court.

Maxwell was also ordered to participate in relevant services, from parenting lessons to anger management programs and drug rehabilitation.

Magistrate Robert Young described his actions as “inherently dangerous”.

“The worst thing a parent can do is use their child as a weapon,” said Justice Robert Young.

Maxwell shook his middle finger and stuck his tongue out at the media crews as he left the court.

In his ruling, the magistrate said he did not want to minimize the mother’s suffering from postpartum depression, ABC News reported.

Maxwell became pregnant four months after beginning a relationship with the father, and the couple moved in together soon after.

The 27-year-old had felt “trapped” during the relationship, her lawyer Margot Perling told the court.

The lawyer added that Maxwell had been struggling as a new mother and had been crying out for help.

In footage sent to the baby’s father and mother, Maxwell could be heard shouting: ‘I’m going to whip this bitch, I’m going to kill this bitch’, and ‘he’s going to get hurt.’

Another video showed the baby crying in the back of a car as Maxwell screamed that she couldn’t “stand being stuck alone with this shit.”

A photo of her hand around the baby’s neck sent to her ex-partner was accompanied by the message: “I’ll hurt him as bad to f**k up your feelings as if you had mine.” Don’t think I won’t do it.

Prosecutors had previously told the court that the videos were so graphic that police had “shielded” staff from seeing them.

The boy was taken to Perth Children’s Hospital but suffered no lasting injuries and is now in the care of his maternal grandmother.

Maxwell pleaded guilty to three counts of assault and one count of impeding the normal breathing of another person.

Maxwell now sees her son three times a week and is doing “everything she can to get him back.”