Mum launches major lawsuit over tragic death of her toddler Maliq ‘Meeky’ Namok-Malamoo who was left on a bus at Goodstart Early Learning Centre in Cairns in searing heat
A grieving mother whose son died after being left in a daycare minivan for six hours in scorching temperatures is suing the daycare operators for psychological harm.
Muriel Gail Namok filed a civil claim for psychological trauma against Goodstart Early Learning Limited in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Friday.
Ms Namok’s three-year-old son, Maliq ‘Meeky’ Nicholas Floyd Namok-Malamoo, died on February 18, 2020, in a bus parked outside the Goodstart Early Learning Centre in the Cairns suburb of Edmonton.
The court has the authority to award Ms. Namok at least $750,000 in damages from the national child care organization, which has not yet filed a defense.
The details of the claim have not yet been made public, but a spokesperson for Ms. Namok’s law firm told the Courier Mail they would the amount in dollars she is looking for.
Maliq ‘Meeky’ Nicholas Floyd Namok-Malamoo died after being left in a bus parked outside Goodstart Early Learning Centre on February 18, 2020
Maliq’s mother, Muriel Gail Namok, filed a civil claim for psychological trauma against Goodstart Early Learning Limited in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Friday
Maliq was picked up at 9:20 a.m. by the center’s director, Michael Glenn Thomas Lewis, and another staff member, Dionne Batrice Grills, as part of the first pickup of the day.
Prosecutors said the two workers “forgot” to remove Maliq from his child seat and did not realize what had happened until they found him dead in the seat at 3:13 p.m.
The temperature on the bus that day probably reached 56 degrees Celsius.
Lewis and Grills faced charges of manslaughter in the Supreme Court, but Grills was acquitted by a jury in April 2023.
Lewis, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter, was sentenced to six years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in August 2022.
Maliq was on the bus from 9:20am to 3:13pm, with temperatures inside likely reaching 56 degrees Celsius.
The Supreme Court has jurisdiction to award Ms. Namok $750,000 or more in civil damages from the national child care organization, which has not yet filed a defense
In 2021, Goodstart Early Learning Limited pleaded guilty in the Cairns District Court to failing to properly supervise the children, failing to protect the children from harm/hazards that could cause injury and failing to take reasonable steps to ensure that documentation was correct.
It was a fine of $71,000.
No date has yet been set for Ms. Namok’s civil claim.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Goodstart Early Learning for comment.