A drug-addicted mum who left her two daughters to die in a hot car would “disappear for days”, at one point taking her child at 10pm at night to “collect a dishwasher” for a friend, an inquest has been told.
Peter Jackson spent hours giving evidence about the bizarre behaviour exhibited by his former partner Kerri-Ann Conley on the second day of an inquest into the deaths of two-and-a-half-year-old Darcey-Helen and her 13-month-old sister Chloe-Ann Conley.
Both girls died from hyperthermia on November 23, 2019 after Conley parked her car outside her Waterford West home about 30km south of Brisbane and left her daughters inside.
Temperatures climbed as high as 61.5C in the vehicle as Conley slept inside the house, only removing her children some nine hours later.
On Tuesday Peter Jackson – Darcey-Helen’s biological father – spoke at length of Conley’s “erratic” behaviours while giving evidence at Brisbane Coroners Court.
Mr Jackson said she would disappear for days, not answering texts or calls, only to reappear like “nothing had ever happened”.
Even during her pregnancy with Darcey-Helen, Conley was “not around a lot” and returned home at irregular times, he said.
The court was told Mr Jackson began to learn of her drug use after finding a glass pipe and drugs in her car.
“I obviously asked her about it, she told me it wasn’t hers,” Mr Jackson said, revealing he destroyed the pipe.
“At that particular point in time I did not know or was aware she was on any sort of drug.
“Obviously, I was not happy about it.”
Mr Jackson said he was “not for drugs at all” and had never taken drugs in his life.
Conley is serving a nine-year-jail term for the manslaughter of her children but will be eligible for parole in August.
The inquest is investigating the lead-up to Darcey-Helen and Chloe-Ann’s deaths as well as the responses from Child Safety, Metro South Health and the Queensland Police Service.
In his evidence on Tuesday, Mr Jackson said Conley would frequently disappear for days and not answer any calls or texts from him.
He said Conley accused him of “controlling” her when he attempted to confront his former partner.
Even after Darcey-Helen’s birth, Mr Jackson said Conley returned home without the child to “have a shower”.
“I thought that was strange,” Mr Jackson said.
“She (Conley) said Darcey was still at the hospital and she was going back and as far as I knew that’s what she did.”
Mr Jackson spoke of another occasion involving a bizarre text Conley received from a friend at 10pm at night.
“Apparently she had to go and help someone collect a dishwasher at ten o’clock at night, which I thought was awfully strange,” Mr Jackson said.
The court was told Conley left with Darcey-Helen in tow after the pair argued over the text.
She did not return until the next morning, Mr Jackson said.
Child Safety eventually removed Darcey-Helen from Conley’s care but the child was eventually returned to her.
Mr Jackson said he unsuccessfully tried to see his daughter for months after Conley moved to another home in June 2017, only to be met with unanswered phone calls and to find no one was home at the time.
Conley would only contact him or visit when she needed money for the child, he said.
“It was the same pattern starting all over again,” Mr Jackson told the court.
“If she needed nappies she would come to me or I would meet her at the shops.”
In February 2018, Mr Jackson said he received a call from Conley asking if he wanted to see Darcey-Helen.
He said Conley then “dropped a bombshell” she was pregnant with Chloe-Ann.
“Later in the week … I advised it wouldn’t be worthwhile keeping the child,” Mr Jackson said.
“At that particular point in time knowing and being able to tell she had relapsed and everything like that, it was probably the easiest and safest option available for her.
Mr Jackson said he gave Conley money to terminate the pregnancy – also stating Conley had made her own appointment.
After Chloe-Ann’s birth, the pair’s relationship stabilised but by early 2019 Conley’s house was becoming “unkept”.
“It was a f**king pigsty,” Mr Jackson said as he revealed he was also buying food for her household.
He gave evidence that he found out Conley had started dealing the drug ice for “extra money”.
Mr Jackson said on one occasion she asked him to collect money owed to her for drugs, to which he refused.
Police officers are expected to give evidence through the afternoon.
On Monday members of Mr Jackson’s family spoke of Conley’s drug use and disturbing comments made years before the girls died.
One included a disturbing text sent to Mr Jackson that used words to the effect of: “I fell asleep on the lounge oops I left Chloe in the car all night.”
Mr Jackson’s mother Deanne Power gave evidence that she once found Darcey-Helen “banging her head” on a wall and trying to climb it while at Conley’s house.
“I said to (Peter), ‘She must have drugs in her system’,” Ms Power said.
The inquest continues.