1. One-year-old dies trapped under a bean bag after his daycare teacher was unaware he’d sat on him.
A one-year-old boy has died from suffocation after he was trapped beneath a bean bag when his teacher sat on it to read his classmates a story.
Leonardo “Leo” Sanchez, from Utah in the US was due to turn two on September 17.
His mother Danielle Sanchez told KSTU-TV: “In my mind, my child is under your care. He suffocated under a bean bag. How does a 2-year-old, not even 2 yet, how does he get stuck under a bean bag? Something happened. I don’t know what.”
Police say Leo was underneath the bean bag when an unidentified worker sat down to read a book.
“It just baffles me, makes me wonder. She must not have felt him, she must not have heard him,” the boy’s mother said.
The West Jordan Child Center issued a statement, saying, “We regret deeply the tragic death of a young toddler at our day care facility. No words adequately describe the depth of the sorrow we feel.”
2. Mother charged with murder after 2-year-old found drowned.
A 36-year-old mother has been charged with murder after her two-year-old daughter was found dead in the bathtub of a southwestern Sydney home yesterday.
Police were alerted to the home on Merino Street in Miller yesterday after a family friend raised concerns and went to the address.
It is understood that the girl’s mother was in a hospital after an accident over the weekend following a fight with her partner.
Last night detectives from Green Valley Local Area Command attended a medical facility in the Blue Mountains and spoke with a woman, who the ABC say is the girl’s mother.
The 36-year-old was arrested and taken to Katoomba Police station where has been charged with murder.
3. Police have seized a vehicle belonging to a person of interest in relation to the Tiahleigh Palmer murder.
Police have made a breakthrough in their investigation into the murder of 12-year-old Tiahleigh Palmer in Queensland, seizing a vehicle. The Courier Mail reports that the current owner of the car is not a person of interest as the car had being sold in the past 11 months.
Yesterday, police made the appeal for anyone who saw the blue 2009 model XR6 on Kerkin Road North, Pimpama, around October 30, to contact Crime Stoppers.
Acting Regional Crime Coordinator Detective Superintendent Mark White said the investigation was ongoing.
“Those investigations (into the car) are still ongoing and we are going to wait for forensic examinations to come back before we take any further steps,” he said.
He said police had identified a number of persons of interest.
“There have been a number of persons of interest identified throughout the investigation and we will continue making inquiries into those particular people.”
Tiahleigh Palmer was last seen on October 30 last year after she was dropped on Chambers Flat Rd by her carer near Marsden State High School about 8.10am.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.
4. Parents sue for $2.5 million over birth defect.
The parents of a two-year-old are suing the doctors who failed to diagnose their daughter’s disability before she was born.
Regan Hooker and Wayne Ball filed papers in the Brisbane Supreme Court saying they would have terminated the pregnancy if they had been told about the abnormality and continue to suffer financially and emotionally being parents of a child with severe disabilities.
Their daughter Aria, 2, was diagnosed with Aicardi Syndrome during an MRI in June 2014.
The couple claim sonographer Kim Andrews and specialist radiologist Greg Duncombe of Queensland Maternal Fetal Medicine in Southport should have detected and warned them about Aria’s abnormality at the 19-week ultrasound in September 2013, reports The Courier Mail.
They claim obstetrician Penelope Isherwood did not warn them of the condition and there was no recommendation for a repeat ultrasound at 22 weeks.
5. Derryn Hinch outs paedophile who worked at McDonalds, prompting restaurant to introduce background checks.
Senator Derryn Hinch has used his parliamentary privilege to name a convicted paedophile working in a Sydney McDonalds and a Pizza Hut, reports News Limited.
Senator Hinch claimed the paedophile was offering to drive teenage boys home from work, even though a mother whose son had been molested by the man had alerted the restaurant employers.
“His name went on to the sex offenders register but, of course, that is secret. Only top brass police have access to it,” Senator Hinch said.
The Senator contacted the McDonald’s outlet in Penrith and alerted the Pizza Hut who terminated his employment.
“We raised many questions about the absence of criminal background checks and were told that when people across Australia applied for positions with McDonald’s … they were only asked: ‘Have you been convicted of a criminal offence?’,” Senator Hinch said.
“The applicants were given a choice to answer yes or no.”
McDonalds will now implement compulsory criminal background checks for applicants over 18 within six to eight weeks.
6. PM marks first anniversary in parliament by introducing same-sex marriage plebiscite.
Malcolm Turnbull will mark his first anniversary as Prime Minister by introducing legislation for a February 11 2017 same-sex marriage plebiscite.
The Greens and a number of crossbench senators have said they will not support the plebiscite while Labor is weighing up whether to block the enabling bill in the Senate,
7. Six-year-old boy burnt by exploding phone.
A six-year-old boy has become the latest victim of the Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 smartphone when the handset exploded in his hands.
The New York Post reports the young boy was using one of the recalled devices when it burst into flames.
“The child was watching videos on the phone when the battery exploded,” his grandma Linda Lewis said.
“It set off alarms in my house.”
The boy’s family called police just before 8pm on Sunday night local time and he was rushed to a medical centre with burns to his body.
“He is home now,” Ms Lewis said. “He doesn’t want to see or go near any phones. He’s been crying to his mother.”
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