Auckland man Phillip Welsh was sentenced to nearly six years in jail over the death of toddler Malcolm Bell.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
The killing of an Auckland toddler whose five older siblings had previously been taken into care amid concerns for their safety will not be subject to a coroner’s inquest.
Malcolm Robert Bell died on June 29, 2019 at Starship Hospital, six days after he was admitted with suspected non-accidental injuries.
The cause of the 16-month-old’s death was later ruled as a blunt-force head injury.
He was living with his mother Savanna Bell and her partner Phillip Welsh at the time.
Savanna Bell is the sister of William Dwane Bell, who murdered three people during a drug-fuelled robbery at the Mt Wellington Panmure RSA in 2001.
Welsh was charged with murdering the little boy but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter the day before he was scheduled to go on trial in the High Court at Auckland.
The court heard Welsh threw Malcolm with significant force towards a couch while more than a metre away.
Malcolm hit the back of the couch, the wooden frame of which was thinly covered, and fell to the floor.
He was immediately rendered unconscious and did not move.
At 7.32pm Welsh called Bell and told her Malcolm was having a seizure and needed an ambulance.
As she ran home, she called 111.
Paramedics arrived at Bell’s central Auckland apartment at 7.43pm and found Malcolm unresponsive, his breathing “slow and laboured”.
His injuries were fatal.
Welsh was jailed for five years and 11 months after Justice Christian Whata described his offending as ”extreme, indeed brutal, violence”.
The Herald revealed that Oranga Tamariki had been contacted with concerns about the welfare of Malcolm before he suffered fatal injuries.
After his death, the agency initially declined to comment. An Auckland manager then said they had been working to support him and his whānau before his death.
Malcolm’s case was referred to the coroner in a bid to see if anything could have been done to prevent his death and if any recommendations needed to be made to try and save other young lives in the future.
Coroner Debra Bell assessed the information provided to her and ruled no further inquiry would be held.
Her decision has now been released to the Herald.
“I am satisfied that the causes and circumstances surrounding this death have been dealt with by a High Court Judge, and the matters required to be established by me, in terms of… the Coroners Act 2006, have been adequately established by the High Court,” she said.
She confirmed Malcolm’s five siblings “were all placed in care” before he died.
As a result, Coroner Bell requested reports from police, Oranga Tamariki and a healthcare agency that had worked with Savanna Bell.
“The police advise that there are nine records in the New Zealand Police National Intelligence Application relating to family harm occurrences for Malcolm Bell,” she said.
“He was present during all, with his mother and Mr Welsh being the main parties.
“The report from Oranga Tamariki details the concern it had for Malcolm’s wellbeing; however, there were no concerns from Oranga Tamariki regarding any physical abuse of Malcolm.
“Having reviewed this material, I am satisfied there is nothing further for me to investigate and or open an inquiry.”
Coroner Bell’s ruling also revealed Savanna Bell has given birth to another child since Malcolm died.
After the death, Oranga Tamariki central Auckland regional manager Anna Palmer told the Herald social workers “were aware that people were worried about Malcolm’s situation”.
He said they had been “working to provide support to him and his whānau prior to his death”.
Palmer could not go into the specifics of the concerns raised or speak further to the involvement OT has had with Savanna Bell in relation to any of her children.
But she confirmed his case and care would be scrutinised.
“We will be gathering information to understand if anything could have been done differently, and what we can learn from this tragedy.
Palmer said earlier that the coroner “will consider whether there are lessons that can be learned for the future.”
Coroner Bell’s ruling has effectively cleared the agency of any mistakes, oversights or missteps in relation to Malcolm’s case.
Malcolm Robert Bell was born on January 29, 2018.
By June 2019 he was living in an apartment on Nelson St in Auckland’s CBD with his mother and her boyfriend, who is not Malcolm’s father.
On the day Malcolm suffered his fatal injuries, Savanna Bell and Welsh were arguing.
She asked Welsh to leave, which he did.
But he returned in the early evening and the arguing continued.
Savanna Bell left the apartment leaving Malcolm, later described as “upset and crying”, with Welsh.
Shortly after that, Welsh picked up Malcolm and threw him with significant force at the couch.
When Savanna Bell got back to the apartment she found Welsh holding Malcolm.
She took her little boy from the man and started CPR, as directed by the 111 call taker.
Malcolm was pale and unconscious.
Welsh told Savanna Bell: “We were just playing, he bounced off here and Malcolm went funny, he then stopped breathing.”
When the toddler got to Starship Hospital medical staff noticed bruising on both his cheeks and above his right eyebrow.
A CT scan was completed which showed a volume of blood beneath, on the right side of his head.
The scan also showed that the right side of the brain was damaged and was swelling rapidly.
Malcolm deteriorated and a further CT scan showed more blood overlaying the right side of his brain with more marked swelling.
He was taken for surgery and underwent a right decompressive craniectomy to alleviate the pressure within his skull.
He was transferred to Paediatric Intensive Care but over six days there his condition continued to deteriorate.
He died on June 29, 2019.
A forensic pathologist performed a post-mortem examination on Malcolm’s body on June 29 and determined the cause of death was blunt-force head injury.
“Medical professionals confirm that the type of injury and the action that caused the injuries Malcolm suffered is non-accidental,” Coroner Bell said in her decision.
“At the time of receiving the injury to his head, Malcolm would have either been knocked unconscious very shortly thereafter.
“Retinal haemorrhages were observed, and an ophthalmologist opined that Malcolm suffered some acceleration/deceleration, shearing forces which would account for the haemorrhages.”
When Welsh was interviewed, he told police Malcolm was running around the apartment after his mother had left.
However, the 111 operator, while on the phone to Savanna Bell, heard Welsh say after he had gone to the toilet he found Malcolm lying unresponsive on the floor.
When Welsh was sentenced, Savanna Bell read a Victim Impact Statement in court.
She said she was haunted at night by visions of her son’s “little body” being smashed.
“You’re a liar, a coward, a monster,” she told Welsh.
“You killed my baby.”
Malcolm’s maternal grandmother, Sophie Pokai, told the court her heart had dropped when she was told he had been admitted to hospital.
She sat at Malcolm’s bedside, unable to take away his mamae (pain), she said.
“Children and grandchildren are meant to bury their parents and grandparents, not the other way around.”
Welsh had “broken the circle of my whānau”.
“He has taken one of my taonga away from me. Malcolm can never be replaced.”
Malcolm would have turned 5 in January this year.
Savanna Bell posted a tribute to him on Facebook.
“The big 5 today my son - hope your [sic] having fun up in heaven with our family,” she wrote.
“Mum will always be thinking about you every single day and night, I will never forget you.
“You will always be in my heart my beautiful angel son, I will always love you my son.”
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