Major update in case of parents jailed for starving teenage ballerina daughter until she was four stone

Warning: This article contains distressing imagery and discussion of child abuse which some readers may find upsetting.

An Australian mother who was jailed earlier this year for starving her 17-year-old daughter has had her bid for bail denied, after she failed to convince the judge that her trial was unfair.

The aspiring ballerina was in a skeletal state when her mum and dad finally took her to hospital in 2021 off the back of concerns raised by her ballet teachers. There, doctors declared the teen was malnourished and had stunted physical and mental growth, which led to both of her parents being jailed earlier this year.

The couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were sentenced in Perth’s District Court of Western Australia, with the father receiving six-and-a-half years in prison and the mother being handed a lower sentence of five years on account of 'personal circumstances'.

Witnesses in the court case revealed that the teenager was being treated as if she were far younger, with the parents allegedly blowing her nose, taking her to the bathroom and encouraging her to watch children's cartoons such as Thomas the Tank Engine.

Her ballet teachers alerted authorities after becoming concerned that she was malnourished (District Court of Western Australia)

Her father had pleaded guilty to forging her birth certificate to make her seem younger than she actually was, although the couple both denied all the other charges.

Now, the mother of the girl has received a significant update on her future, as she made an unsuccessful bid for bail while awaiting an appeal, which was denied by the court earlier this week.

The woman had claimed that there was a 'miscarriage of justice' when her original trial was not adjourned, despite her suffering from a stomach bug that prevented her from attending in person.

However, in the Court of Appeal, Justice Robert Mazza ruled that there was nothing to suggest the trial was prejudiced in any way because of her failing to attend in person.

Both parents are appealing their sentences, but only the mother had requested bail from the judge.

At the sentencing earlier this year, Judge Linda Black stressed that 'this is not a case about a malnourished ballerina'.

Her father forged her birth certificate to make it seem like his daughter was younger than she was (District Court of Western Australia)

"You isolated your daughter, you prevented her from growing up, you prevented her from developing in the way she was entitled to," Judge Black said.

"You did keep her as a little girl long beyond the age where she should have been.

"I simply do not and cannot accept that the two of you needed someone to point out to you that your daughter was starving, that she was fading away.

"That she was failing to grow, that she was failing to thrive. You engaged in wilful blindness of the most extreme kind."

The parents' appeal is expected to go to court next year.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.