Pokies mum who left her baby in a hot car for FIVE hours with all the windows rolled up while she gambled at a pub pleads guilty as court hears the child requires lifelong care after suffering massive brain damage
- Kaija Millar, 34, left her son in a blisteringly hot car for five hours alone to die
- 14-month-old Easton was rushed to hospital in a critical condition in 2020
- Millar, from Melbourne, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to criminal negligence
- Easton had been a healthy and happy baby before his evil mum crippled him
- The child sustained massive brain damage after his little body baked for hours
- Millar lied to police and cried that she needed the child to live to spare her jail
A wicked mum who left her child in a hot car for five hours while she gambled at the pub later lied to police and paramedics as she tried to cover-up her crime.
In the ultimate betrayal of trust, Kaija Millar, 34, on Wednesday pleaded guilty in the County Court of Victoria to negligence causing serious injury to her then 14-month old baby Easton.
The court heard temperatures outside had reached 37.5C in Point Cook, in Melbourne's west, as Millar played bingo and the pokies inside the Brook Hotel.
Baby Easton (pictured, left) was found unresponsive and in a critical condition. Police allege his mother Kaija Millar (right) left him in the car
Kaija Millar also faces claims she tried to scam people out of thousands of dollars with a bogus dog sale
Steve Millar has revealed his son Easton has just a 50 per cent chance of survival after he was allegedly left in the car outside a pub in Point Cook, Victoria
The dead beat mum had rolled up all of the windows and left the air conditioning off as she blew what little cash the young family had inside.
For five long hours baby Easton sat strapped helplessly inside the boiling hot car before she decided to check on his welfare.
It was way too late.
The court heard Easton's internal temperature had skyrocketed to 40C, causing his fragile body to go into renal failure, deranging his liver, sending him blind and severely damaging his brain.
His body had turned a shade of 'grey blue' as Millar pleaded with witnesses not to tell her husband what she had done.
She told an emergency operator that Easton was simply suffering from smoke inhalation, from nearby bushfires.
When confused paramedics arrived, the desperate mum continued to cover her wicked behaviour.
She told emergency workers the windows had all been rolled down and that she had been conducting regular checks on her baby.
'I don't want to go to jail,' she squealed.
CCTV footage captured from the venue would later expose her cruel lies.
Millar continued to feed police misinformation, telling them she had left the car's air conditioner on, it was in the shade and she had checked on him.
Kaija Miller makes a dash from Melbourne Magistrates' Court in January under hot pursuit by a media pack. She made no comment and refused to answer questions
Kaija Miller or her lawyerr Cameron Allen (right) refused to comment on the tragedy that has seen Millar's baby hospitalised
Kaija Millar, 32, (pictured, left) is accused of leaving 14-month-old Easton (right) in her car and abandoning him while she went to play bingo
They were all lies, the court heard.
Crown prosecutor Neill Hutton said Millar had been routinely attending the pokies venue in the weeks before her tragic crime.
Millar had been failing to pay her way, leaving her husband to pick up the couple's bills.
By then, Millar had already been exposed as a lying cheat, who had narrowly escaped conviction for swiping a man's wallet while working as an Uber driver.
But she had scored big on the pokies just months earlier and had been keen to learn if lightning would strike twice.
Instead, her child will now live with permanent injuries that will affect everything from his speech to his capacity to move, see and eat.
The court heard Easton's brain injuries had left him in need of lifelong care, but even then, Millar's cruel act had shortened his expected time on Earth.
While Easton's injuries and their impact on his family will live forever, Millar faces at best five years in jail.
She will get nowhere near that maximum sentence.
Her barrister, Michael Allen, explained to Judge Felicity Hampel all of the good reasons Millar had for his despicable actions.
She had been bullied at school, she had a cognitive impairment and she had been 'utterly overwhelmed by the demands of motherhood'.
Her husband was allegedly 'controlling and critical' and she sought company from the elderly pokie venue crew, despite never actually interacting with them.
Mr Allen claimed his client had been deemed by doctors to be of extremely low intelligence.
Kaija Millar covers her face as reporters ask her questions as she left Melbourne Magistrates' Court in January
The 14-month-old fought for life after being was found unconscious in a car parked outside a pub (pictured)
Share this article
She had been depressed about being a mum and had considered putting Easton up for adoption.
But the court heard she had the intelligence to commit previous crimes and still faces serious pending allegations she is a con woman who had duped unsuspecting victims in a 'puppy scam'.
Millar had tried to use her supposed low intelligence to riggle off the hook, but she was unable to convince the court she was unfit to stand trial due to mental impairment.
Appearing in court via videolink, Millar appeared to cry as a summary of her shocking offence was read aloud to the virtual court.
The disability pensioner has not yet spent a single day behind bars over the crime.
Mr Allen said Millar had been deeply remorseful for her actions and accepted it was all her own fault.
'I didn't do this deliberately. I didn't do this to hurt my son,' Millar told police.
Mr Millar argued his client's moral culpability for the crime ought be reduced because of her mental issues.
Judge Hampel said Millar knew what she was doing was wrong when she left her baby alone.
At a previous hearing over the matter, the Melbourne Magistrates' Court was told Millar remained estranged from baby Easton's father Steve.
At the time, Mr Millar said Easton had only a 50 percent chance of survival.
Millar's face had gone viral upon being outed as Easton's mum at the time of the incident and was shared across the globe.
Speaking to the Herald Sun newspaper in January, Mr Millar said he was 'heartbroken and devastated'.
'It's still touch and go at the moment — it's 50-50 whether he'll pull through,' he said.
'He has shown a few signs to me, when I'm talking to him you can see his mouth trying to move.'
He said his parents and both his brothers had been accompanying him to the hospital daily as he held a bedside vigil for the youngster.
Mr Millar said he had cut himself off from the child's mother as she prepared to face court over the shocking allegations.
She will be sentenced later this month.
Kaija Millar (pictured) has pleaded guilty to harming her own child. Her baby, Easton, has been left with life long injuries
Kaija Millar (pictured) appeared in court on Wednesday. Easton is being cared for by his father
Comments 0
Share what you think
No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
