Anne (36 years old) is the mother of Jimmy (9 years old), Marley (13 years old), and Ed (19 years old). All the kids live at home with her.

Anne has long suffered problems with alcohol and methamphetamine addiction and Marley and Ed were removed from her care more than once when they were little. Ed's father has never been around. Marley's father was abusive and frequently beat up Anne in front of the Ed and Marley. Marley has FASD and struggles at school. Marley's father is currently in prison for a range of violent and non-violent o`ences. Jimmy's father is not in the picture.

For the past 9 years, Anne has been working hard on staying drug and alcohol free and has generally succeeded, but lately she moved to Darwin, away from family in Alice Springs, and she has had a relapse. Anne is frequently high, drunk, and much of the little money she receives goes towards substances. The kids often go hungry and the home is in a very unhygienic state. Anne knows this is a problem, but is terrified that if she seeks help the kids will be removed again. When she becomes distressed from thinking about this, she usually turns to substances to relieve the distress. She relies heavily on Marley and Ed to look after themselves and to look after Jimmy.

On 5 September 2023, Marley and Jimmy get into an argument while Anne is at the shops, purchasing groceries. Marley is in the kitchen trying to fix a broken item with a rusty screwdriver at the time. During the argument, Jimmy picks up a butter knife and charges at Marley, screaming, "I'm gonna kill you!" Marley reacts by ducking out of Jimmy's path then swinging her hand up to punch him, with the intent of regaining control of the situation. However, it is the hand that is holding the screwdriver and this scratches Jimmy badly enough to cause him to bleed.

Marley patches up Jimmy with a bandage and both decide not to tell their Mum about the altercation.

A couple of days later, Jimmy starts to run a fever and to experience painful muscle spasms. He goes to Anne for help but she is very drunk and gives him a Panadol and tells him to leave her alone. Jimmy's condition deteriorates over the next few days. He has an obvious fever. He is often screaming in pain.

Ed notices Jimmy's condition but he figures that Jimmy is exaggerating for attention (not unusual), and doses him up on Panadol and Neurofen. But after a while he notices that Jimmy's face increasingly spasms into an odd expression like a grin but Jimmy is not happy about ithe is in pain. He googles and learns that Jimmy has likely contracted tetanus, and learns also that this is a serious illness with a high mortality rate. After discussing his concerns with Marley, she tells him about the incident with the screwdriver.

Ed is not sure what to do. He goes to work and mulls it over. On the one hand, Jimmy needs help. On the other hand, he has previously vowed he will never let welfare split up the family and he's worried Jimmy and Marley may be removed if this comes to the attention of the authorities. He looks up some alternative medicine suggestions and tries to treat Jimmy with herbs. After a few more days, it becomes apparent this is not working. Jimmy cannot eat or drink. His breathing is increasingly laboured. Ed is alarmed and goes to Anne for help but she is hungover and moans at Ed to go away and sort it out. Ed decides to sleep on it.

In the night, at 2am on 14 September 2023, Jimmy dies.

Marley wakes at 7am and sees Jimmy is non-responsive and calls 000. An ambulance is called and upon finding Jimmy dead, they call police.

An autopsy finds that tetanus from the screwdriver wound was the cause of his death. Ed gives an interview with police in which he explains about the screwdriver incident, his worry for his little brother, and the reasons why didn't seek medical attention. He says he regularly cares for Jimmy when Anne is unavailable.

You are a Crown Prosecutor. Police have put together a brief of evidence that can prove all the facts set out in the above outline. They seek your advice about what charges could be laid against Anne, Ed, and Marley.

You should consider ONLY the following offences in the NTCC:

- Murder (s 156)

- Manslaughter (s 160)

- Violent act causing death (s 161A)