The mother of a young boy who died after being left on a minibus has told a court that a childcare centre director appeared "overwhelmed" the morning he collected her son.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains an image of a person who has died.
Maliq Nicholas Floyd Namok-Malamoo, 3, died on February 18, 2020 on a bus outside the Goodstart Early Learning Centre in the Cairns suburb of Edmonton.
Dionne Batrice Grills, 36, a former lead educator at the centre, is standing trial in the Supreme Court over the death of the boy, known affectionately as Meeky.
Meeky's mother, Muriel Namok, told the court her son was routinely picked up about seven o'clock each morning.
But the day her son died, the regular bus driver, Marisol Mathews, was away on leave.
Meeky was collected at the normal time the day before, but the following morning the bus did not arrive until almost 9:30am after Ms Namok called the childcare centre.
When the bus arrived, driven by centre director Michael Glenn Lewis, Ms Namok buckled her son into a second-row seat on the driver's side and placed his backpack on the floor next to a fire extinguisher near the front passenger seat.
The court heard the pick up took about five to seven minutes as Meeky was being "clingy", while a "flustered" Mr Lewis rushed Ms Namok.
Defence counsel Tony Kimmins asked Ms Namok whether the bus then left her home "possibly faster than you've ever seen it go before", to which she replied: "Yes."
Accused was 'frazzled'
The prosecution alleges Meeky died after he was forgotten onboard once the bus returned to the childcare centre.
Mr Lewis began giving evidence on Tuesday, telling the court he had expected Ms Grills to drive Ms Mathews' regular bus run that morning.
He said when he arrived at the childcare centre to start work, he "immediately" noticed the bus was not there.
Mr Lewis told the court Ms Grills appeared "quite frazzled, almost upset" when he first saw her.
He described her failure to do the morning pick-up run as "quite a substantial stuff-up", but said he was "non-confrontational" and did not raise the issue with her as they drove to take a group of children to school and then to collect Meeky from home.
Ms Grills was in the front passenger seat of the minibus while Mr Lewis drove.
The court heard Mr Lewis had an important meeting to attend at 9am that day.
'Paid to look after the children'
Marisol Mathews, the regular bus driver, told the court she had "simplified" the number of children Ms Grills would need to collect before she went on leave.
She said educators who went on bus runs as passengers would often help children disembark.
"We're both educators, we're both being paid to look after the children," Ms Mathews said.
The jury was shown a copy of Goodstart's driver responsibility checklist, which stated drivers were to perform a physical check of the bus after it had been used to transport children.
The sheet said that should include looking under and behind seats, and that the checks should involve a second educator if possible.
The trial, before Justice Peter Applegarth, continues.
