news, crime, Bradyn Dillon, Graham Dillon
A child protection worker says she didn’t want to jump to conclusions Bradyn Dillon was being abused after he turned up to school with bruises on his face twice in the space of two weeks. A coronial inquest into the death of the nine-year-old Canberra boy resumed on Monday. His father Graham Dillon told him to bend over a marble table while he beat him with a belt on February 15, 2016, and later that day landed another flurry of blows before Bradyn fell unconscious. He never woke up. Dillon is serving more than 36 years in jail for the murder. A child protection worker, whose name is suppressed, took the witness stand at the inquest on Tuesday. She gave evidence she was an intake officer in 2015 when a “child concern report” about Bradyn landed on her desk. The report detailed claims from Bradyn’s teacher, who said the boy had turned up to school with four small bruises on his left cheek one Tuesday, then bruises on his right cheek seven days later. The teacher said that, on the first occasion, Bradyn had said he didn’t want to talk about where the bruises came from, but he later said he’d gotten them when he’d fallen off his bike and hit his cheek on the handlebars. On the second occasion, the teacher said Bradyn told her, “I don’t know, they just come”. In a statement handed to the ACT Coroner’s Court, the child protection worker said the teacher’s report contained no allegation of physical abuse or non-accidental injuries. Counsel assisting the coroner, Rebecca Curran, pointed out that the worker was bound at the time by a policy that said repeated bruising on the head or face should not be considered accidental without an adequate explanation. The worker said she now recognised bruising to the face was “unusual”. Ms Curran said the child protection worker spoke to Dillon, who – at odds with the teacher – claimed Bradyn only had bruises to one side of his face and that they were nearly gone. The child protection worker said she didn’t follow up with the teacher to confirm her version of events, and it was fair to say she had accepted what Dillon said. She said, in order for her to consider there was an “allegation”, there needed to be a direct allegation or more context provided around what had happened. When Ms Curran asked the worker whether she could think of reasons why a child might have four small bruises on their face, she answered: “It could be anything from falling against a strange object to physical abuse – we really don’t know”. The worker said the bruises could come from a child falling on “a cube or something”. Ms Curran suggested the bruises could be a grasp mark, but the worker said she and others weren’t allowed to make assumptions. She said she would have to consult with her team leader and another unit to have that determined. READ MORE: The worker said if she saw the report today and other information that Bradyn had unexplained bruising over five months, she would pass it onto police and other colleagues up the chain. The worker said everyone in her department was “extremely busy” with very high workloads around 2015, and it was common then – as it was now – for one worker to start on a report and another to finish it without a handover. The inquest continues.
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Bradyn Dillon, who was murdered by his father Graham Dillon in 2016. Picture: Supplied
A child protection worker says she didn’t want to jump to conclusions Bradyn Dillon was being abused after he turned up to school with bruises on his face twice in the space of two weeks.
His father Graham Dillon told him to bend over a marble table while he beat him with a belt on February 15, 2016, and later that day landed another flurry of blows before Bradyn fell unconscious.
A child protection worker, whose name is suppressed, took the witness stand at the inquest on Tuesday.
She gave evidence she was an intake officer in 2015 when a “child concern report” about Bradyn landed on her desk.
The report detailed claims from Bradyn’s teacher, who said the boy had turned up to school with four small bruises on his left cheek one Tuesday, then bruises on his right cheek seven days later.
The teacher said that, on the first occasion, Bradyn had said he didn’t want to talk about where the bruises came from, but he later said he’d gotten them when he’d fallen off his bike and hit his cheek on the handlebars.
On the second occasion, the teacher said Bradyn told her, “I don’t know, they just come”.
In a statement handed to the ACT Coroner’s Court, the child protection worker said the teacher’s report contained no allegation of physical abuse or non-accidental injuries.
Counsel assisting the coroner, Rebecca Curran, pointed out that the worker was bound at the time by a policy that said repeated bruising on the head or face should not be considered accidental without an adequate explanation.
The worker said she now recognised bruising to the face was “unusual”.
Ms Curran said the child protection worker spoke to Dillon, who – at odds with the teacher – claimed Bradyn only had bruises to one side of his face and that they were nearly gone.
The child protection worker said she didn’t follow up with the teacher to confirm her version of events, and it was fair to say she had accepted what Dillon said.
She said, in order for her to consider there was an “allegation”, there needed to be a direct allegation or more context provided around what had happened.
When Ms Curran asked the worker whether she could think of reasons why a child might have four small bruises on their face, she answered: “It could be anything from falling against a strange object to physical abuse – we really don’t know”.
The worker said the bruises could come from a child falling on “a cube or something”.
Ms Curran suggested the bruises could be a grasp mark, but the worker said she and others weren’t allowed to make assumptions. She said she would have to consult with her team leader and another unit to have that determined.
The worker said if she saw the report today and other information that Bradyn had unexplained bruising over five months, she would pass it onto police and other colleagues up the chain.
The worker said everyone in her department was “extremely busy” with very high workloads around 2015, and it was common then – as it was now – for one worker to start on a report and another to finish it without a handover.
