'They signed off on that baby's death': Child safety campaigner lashes the family court for allowing a violent father custody of his six-month-old son before horror 'murder-suicide'
- Royal inquiry has been called into the death of baby six-month-old baby William
- Boy's body was found alongside his father's on Sunshine Coast on February 6
- William's parents were separated and the dad had history of domestic violence
- Questions have been raised over why father had been granted custody rights
- Police believe the bodies could've been in the car for days before being found
The founder of child protection charity Bravehearts has accused the family court of 'signing off' on a six-month-old baby's death after the boy was killed while in the custody of his abusive father in a tragic suspected murder-suicide.
Hetty Johnston has called for a royal inquiry into the death of baby William, who was found dead in a car alongside his 46-year-old father in the Beerwah State Forest, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, on February 6.
The baby boy had been reported missing after the father failed to hand the child over to his mother days earlier as part of a custody arrangement.
Police revealed William's parents had recently separated and the father had a history of domestic violence.
Baby William was found dead in a car alongside his 46-year-old dad in Queensland's Sunshine Coast, on February 6. Questions have been raised over why the dad, who was facing domestic abuse charges, had custody of the child
The bodies of William and his 46-year-old father were found inside a red Holden Commodore (pictured) on a remote track of the Beerwah State Forest
Johnston is now questioning why a parent with such a background would have been granted visitation rights of a child in the first place.
'The court signed off on that baby's death,' Johnston said, according to the Courier Mail.
Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston has called for a royal inquiry and called on judges to conduct thorough assessments of child custody cases
'That father should never have had contact with that baby.'
Johnston called on judges to conduct thorough assessments in child custody cases by checking for history of abuse.
She explained that some parents often felt forced into signing consent orders in fear of losing complete custody of their children.
Questions have also been raised over why an Amber Alert was never issued after the baby was reported missing.
Council workers discovered the bodies while they were working in the remote forest around 8am - but police are now investigating whether they had been in the car for up to a week.
Det Insp Drinnen said the baby was reported missing on Monday and that the mother and father had recently separated.
The baby's father was due to hand the child over to his mother, but never arrived at the allocated time.
Det Insp Drinnen also confirmed that no alert was issued, despite the fact the child was missing for more than 36 hours.
The bodies of the father and son are suspected to have been in the car for several days before they were discovered
Police (pictured at the scene) are investigating whether the man killed the child before taking his own life
The bodies were found inside a car on Roys Road (pictured) earlier this month
Police are now investigating why the alert - which urgently broadcasts a photo of a missing child to media outlets - was never issued.
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'The father and the child failed to turn up as a result of some custody arrangements,' Det Insp Drinnen said.
'The mother was concerned... so [police did] welfare checks initially, before this was reported as a missing person investigation.
'This was treated as a high-risk missing person investigation ... to try and locate the missing person and child.'
No weapons were found in the car and the cause of the deaths is yet to be established.
Police said the bodies had been in the car for 'some time'.
Daily Mail Australia understands a witness told investigators he saw a red Holden parked in the same spot on Tuesday.
Lifeline - 13 11 14
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