Child killer who drunkenly beat a little boy to death admits bashing ANOTHER child – but will only have six months added to his soft sentence
- Toddler Hemi Goodwin-Burke was killed by Matthew Ireland in March 2015
- Ireland was eligible for parole next month after 5.5-year sentence in 2017
- On Thursday he pleaded guilty to bashing another toddler the same month
- The three-year-old girl was drunkenly hit in the head and left traumatised
- Ireland got just an extra six months jail for his attack, outraging Hemi's parents
A child killer will spend just an extra six months behind bars for bashing another toddler he was babysitting that same month.
Matthew James Ireland was jailed for just five-and-a-half years in 2017 for the manslaughter of 18-month-old Hemi Goodwin-Burke while she was in his care.
The 33-year-old's sentence, which could see him walk free this year, sparked outrage and official recommendations for child killers to get tougher punishments.
Matthew James Ireland (pictured holding Hemi) was jailed for just 5.5 years in 2017 for the manslaughter of 18-month-old Hemi Goodwin-Burke while she was in his care
He escaped a murder trial due to a plea deal, despite Hemi suffering 75 bruises to his abdomen, a broken rib, ruptured internal organs, and a severed brain stem.
Ireland pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm from his jail cell on Thursday to striking a three-year-old girl in the head in March 2015.
The alcoholic with a string of mental illness diagnoses was drunk both when he hit the girl and when he killed Hemi the same month.
He initially tried to claim the girl's brother was the one who injured her, but his story did not stand up and he eventually confessed.
Ireland escaped a murder trial due to a plea deal, despite Hemi suffering 75 bruises to his abdomen, a broken rib, ruptured internal organs, and a severed brain stem
The alcoholic with a string of mental illness diagnoses was drunk both when he hit the girl and when he killed Hemi the same month
The now-six-year-old girl read out a heartbreaking victim impact statement to the Mackay District Court, saying she feared 'the bad man will come to get me again'.
'I have nightmares. I sleep with my mum and dad now, because I'm too scared to sleep by myself,' she said, according to the Daily Mercury.
'Why did you hit me? I am little and you are a big, strong, brave man.'
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Ireland's lawyer Scott McLennan told the court his client was in protective custody after being attacked four times in prison.
He claimed Ireland was diagnosed with PTSD, bipolar disorder and borderline schizophrenia.
Judge Julie Dick gave Ireland just six months jail, despite the prosecution asking for nine to 18 months.
The court heard Ireland drunkenly beat Hemi over a two-hour period while babysitting him in March 2015 (pictured Hemi's parents Kerri-Ann Goodwin and Shane Burke)
Parents Kerri-Ann Goodwin and Shane Burke outside the Mackay Supreme Court in Brisbane (pictured wearing their shirts labelled 'Justice for Hemi')
Hemi's mother, Kerri-Ann Goodwin, said Ireland only getting another six months was 'another kick in the guts'.
'It feels like we're back at square one and nothing has been resolved. 'No justice has been served,' she told the Courier-Mail.
Ms Goodwin and Hemi's father Shane Burke have been campaigning for longer sentences for violence against children since Hemi's death.
'We thought we were being realistic. We were hoping for a year or two,' Mr Burke said on Thursday.
The Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council in November recommended bigger sentences for child murder and manslaughter.
It recommended making killing of a child under 12 an aggravating factor in a manslaughter, allowing judges to give more jail time.
Ireland is eligible for parole later this year after initially being able to be ask for release in March.
Hemi's parents have been campaigning for longer sentences for violence against children since Hemi's death
