Parents of toddler who died at hands of babysitter ordered to remove tribute shirts
The grieving family of a little boy who died of injuries inflicted by a babysitter, were ordered to turn their tribute t-shirts to the toddler inside out by a Queensland Supreme Court judge.
Hemi Goodwin Burke was only 18-months old when he died allegedly from bruises, brain damage and ruptured internal organs at the hands of his babysitter Matthew James Ireland in 2015.
The 31-year-old was initially charged with murder but that was downgraded to manslaughter in February, sparking outrage among the little boy's family.
As a token of their heartbreak, his parents made the shirts calling for justice for baby Hemi.
However they were forced to turn them inside out as they sat watching the boy's killer.
Ireland appeared via video link in Mackay Supreme Court on Tuesday, pleading guilty to manslaughter.
The matter was heading for trial, however that changed when Ireland pleaded guilty to the lesser charge.
“I believe our justice system is letting Hemi down. They don't care about him. They even made us remove our justice for Hemi shirts," the parents wrote on their Justice for Hemi Facebook page after the incident in court.
“They asked us if we would agree to the lower sentence and we said no,” his grieving father told 7 News outside the Mackay court.
“He was a beautiful little boy, he was our little bundle of joy.”
Ireland will reappear in June for sentencing, following a psychiatric report.
