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The day after Darcey-Helen Conley's birth, her mother disappeared from the hospital for hours.
Kerri-Ann Conley's unexplained absence from the maternity ward repeated itself when sister Chloe-Ann was born, a court has been told.
Within a few years, the girls were dead after spending nine hours in their mother's car, where temperatures exceeded 50 degrees Celsius.
An inquest into the hyperthermia deaths of Darcey-Helen, aged two, and one-year-old Chloe-Ann on November 23, 2019, will take place in 2024, the Brisbane Coroners Court hearing was told on Monday.
Conley was sentenced to nine years behind bars in February after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Darcey-Helen (left), aged two, and one-year-old Chloe-Ann (right) died on November 23, 2019, after spending nine hours in their mother's hot car
Kerri-Ann Conley (pictured with Darcey-Helen) was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter
CCTV cameras show Conley parking at her home in Waterford West, south of Brisbane, at 4.05am, leaving the girls in the black Mazda car, said counsel assisting Simon Hamlyn-Harris.
At 1:16 p.m., the footage shows Conley finding the girls unconscious in their car seats.
Police recorded temperatures of more than 50 degrees in the car.
Investigations revealed Conley was a heavy, regular user of methylamphetamine, with her behavior putting the girls at significant risk of harm, Mr Hamlyn-Harris said.
They were often left in the car sleeping when Conley returned home, people had access to drugs in the house at all times, and the girls were frequently left in the car at night while they engaged in drug-related activities.
She also had a habit of leaving the children with anyone in the house, saying she was going to get cigarettes but would be away for an extended period of time, Mr Hamlyn-Harris said.
Hospital staff raised concerns with child safety officials when Conley was absent from the maternity ward for an extended period starting the day after Darcey-Helen was born in May 2017.
The two girls had been abandoned by their mother several times, including in the days after their birth (photo, Darcey-Helen)
“There were also concerns that she had to be prompted to feed the baby or change her diaper,” Mr Hamlyn-Harris added.
Darcey-Helen was removed from her mother's care in November 2017 after an anonymous caller reported her daily ice use.
But the child was returned about a month later when Conley agreed to receive support, including from Uniting Care.
When Chloe-Ann was born in October 2018, staff at Logan Hospital raised their concerns with their child protection unit.
“They noted that during Conley's admission to the maternity unit, there were several occasions when she was absent from the unit for extended periods of time, leaving her baby unattended.”
Child safety officials were skeptical about the reliability of a report on Conley's drug use and the reporter's motivation, leading to a decision in November 2019 that the threshold for reporting under the Child Protection Act had not been met.
The correctness of that decision will be a central issue at the inquest, as the girls died 11 days later.
The inquest will determine what child safety officers could have done differently (photo: an officer photographing the car)
State Coroner Terry Ryan will investigate what could have been done differently, and look at better practices to prevent something similar from happening again.
The investigation also looks at the sharing of information by the police with Child Safety and information from a psychiatrist about drug use and parenting.
A five-day hearing will take place in Brisbane from April 29.