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Inquest told of SA girl’s horrific neglect

Sep 22, 2014
Chloe Valentine

Chloe Valentine

Chloe Valentine was only four when she died of massive head injuries but her short life was already marred by horrific squalor and chronic neglect, an inquest has been told.

Despite Families SA receiving 20 notifications of Chloe’s dreadful circumstances, she was never removed from her drug-using mother who was described by one notifier as a “very convincing liar”.

Reports were made of rats in one squalid residence; old nappies, rotting food and bugs in another; drug use and violence in Chloe’s presence; and her being left in front of the TV for long periods.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Naomi Kereru, on Monday gave an overview of the case at the start of the inquest into the death of Chloe in January 2012.

She died after being forced to ride a motorbike that repeatedly crashed over a three-day period in her Adelaide backyard.

Ashley Polkinghorne, 22, and her then-partner, Benjamin McPartland, 28, are in jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter through criminal neglect.

They waited more than eight hours before calling an ambulance after Chloe eventually became unconscious.

“The pain she must have endured in the last few hours of her short life is difficult to comprehend,” said Kereru.

She outlined the extensive involvement of Families SA, dating back to when Polkinghorne became pregnant at 15, and its responses to numerous neglect notifications from family, friends and other agencies.

One concerned friend recorded a conversation with Polkinghorne which was passed on to Families SA.

“Miss Polkinghorne claimed she was a better mother when she took amphetamines, as she would pick up Chloe and feed her and change her nappy … as opposed to when she was drunk, when she would prop Chloe’s bottle up to her mouth and leave it there,” Kereru said.

Polkinghorne was reported as having told her crying daughter: “shut up you bitch”, and having her child in her arms when a partner punched Polkinghorne twice.

When questioned about this, Polkinghorne said Chloe had not cried “as she had got used to violent incidents”.

She was often visited by Families SA workers, but usually on scheduled dates when they found Chloe’s living conditions acceptable.

One friend who contacted Families SA about her concerns, said: “this is one that will slip through the cracks, Ms Polkinghorne can be a very convincing liar”.

Police advised they found Chloe in the care of a 15-year-old who was drinking in a park on a cold night and on another occasion at a shopping centre, while Polkinghorne was in a nearby liquor shop.

The coroner will hear evidence from numerous witnesses, including those who notified Families SA and the organisation’s workers.

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