Parents of Floreat’s ‘starving ballerina’ appeal jury’s verdict, jail sentence as ‘unreasonable’, ‘excessive’

WARNING: CONFRONTING IMAGES The mother and father of Floreat’s “starving ballerina” are trying to overturn their convictions and hefty jail terms after ditching their lawyers from a District Court trial that gripped WA. The couple, whose identity is suppressed, were each convicted of two counts of child neglect after both taking the stand during their four-and-a-half-week trial in November. A jury found them guilty of both under-nourishing and infantilising their only child, and it’s understood to be the first time in the State’s history of a conviction on the second ground. Their vegan, home-schooled daughter weighed just 28.1kg when she was forcibly hospitalised in 2021, days shy of her 17th birthday. The pair this week filed appeal notices on all fronts, with the woman saying she was not being legally represented and signing the papers herself. The man’s documents show he has now engaged experience barrister Anthony Eyers after being represented by lawyer Oliver Paxman at trial. “The convictions were unsupported by the evidence and occasioned a miscarriage of justice,” the woman’s draft grounds read. “The total effective sentence imposed by the learned sentencing judge was manifestly excessive and occasioned a miscarriage of justice.” The man’s forms read: “The jury’s verdict was unreasonable and not supported by the evidence at trial”. “The minimum non-parole period was manifestly excessive.” The pair learned their fates last month, with the father handed more jail time than the mother because he also forged the girl’s birth certificate to make her appear two years younger. He was sentenced to six-and-a-half years and will be eligible for parole after four-and-a-half. The mother, who sobbed uncontrollably and rocked back and forth after the verdicts were handed down, was sentenced to five years. She will be eligible for parole after serving three years. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said it had determined there were insufficient grounds upon which it could launch its own appeal against the jail terms. “Having regard to the reasons given by the court in imposing the sentences, an appeal against sentence in this case would not be strongly arguable,” a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. “Consequently, a State appeal against sentence will not be commenced.” Judge Linda Black excoriated the pair in her sentencing remarks, saying they told “a cascading series of lies” to everyone who raised concerns. They “engaged in wilful blindness of the most extreme kind” and failed as parents, Judge Black said. The girl may well have died were it not for her dance teachers blowing the whistle, the judge said. From the back of the court, their now 20-year-old daughter, who remains at her parent’s $3.5 million home and has power of attorney, wept quietly into the arms of a supporter. Tragically, she wrote a letter to the court last year pleading for the charges to be dropped, saying she blamed herself for her parents’ predicament as she made her own decisions about her diet. Judge Black said she had never seen a case like it and that photos of the skeletal child “haunted many of us”. Lifeline 13 11 14 Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 If you need help or support for an eating disorder or body image issue, please call Butterfly’s National Helpline on 1800 334 673 or email support@butterfly.org.au