A woman whose baby was abducted and brutally murdered by her ex-partner after he bashed her and left her naked and bleeding in a Broome street has received an apology and pardon from the WA government.
Warning: This story contains images and names of Indigenous people who have died.
In making the apology, Attorney-General John Quigley recounted how in March 2013, Tamica Mullaley endured the "unthinkable".
Ms Mullaley endured a "sustained and vicious attack" at the hands of her partner Mervyn Bell and was left bleeding from her injuries and naked on the streets of Broome in Western Australia's Kimberley.
Police were called, but in the chaotic scenes that followed, a "confused" Ms Mullaley was arrested for assaulting a police officer, and later handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence.
Her child's grandfather, Ted Mullaley, had asked officers to take baby Charlie, but he was instead passed to friends before Bell took him from their house while Ms Mullaley was receiving treatment for her injuries in hospital.
In the 15 hours that followed Bell tortured the child, before rushing his lifeless body to a roadhouse near Karratha, almost 1,000 kilometres away.
Charlie's injuries included burns, broken bones, internal bleeding and severe abrasions.
'Clearly deficient' police response
At the time, Mr Mullaley was also charged with obstructing police.
Wearing a tie with Aboriginal designs and speaking from isolation after testing positive to COVID, Mr Quigley announced both had been pardoned by the Governor under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy.
"Instead, the system we thought we could rely on to support victims of crime failed Tamica and Ted, and they were dragged through the courts themselves," he said.
"These pardons are a show of mercy, for Tamica and Ted, it has been a long time coming."
With both Ms Mullaley and her father in Parliament, Mr Quigley also apologised for a "clearly deficient" police response.
"Tamica was not treated by police at the scene as a victim of domestic violence," he said.
"Tamica and Ted, for that, I am truly sorry. You deserve much better from the police and from the government. We are sorry."
'Sorry means a lot'
Speaking outside state parliament following Mr Quigley's apology, an emotional Ms Mullaley said the apology and pardon meant her son was now being remembered properly.
"You can tell in someone's voice if they mean something, and I think now that they've heard actually the real truth of what happened nine years ago ... it's touched them," she said.
"Sorry means a lot."
Ms Mullaley said the police force seemed to be moving in the right direction when it came to dealing with Aboriginal people.
She continued to cite racism as a key reason for what happened on the night she was assaulted.
Ongoing action flagged to hold police to account
It is understood the police officers involved on the night Ms Mullaley was arrested are still in the force and have not been reprimanded.
Mr Mullaley said they needed to be reprimanded for what they had done, and particularly their treatment of him and his daughter.
"There are going to be ongoing actions about holding the police accountable for what happened," the family's lawyer and principal solicitor of the National Justice Project, George Newhouse, said.
"The family are still seeking accountability and justice, so that other families and children are not put at risk again in the future."
He said that would also include continuing their push for a coronial inquest.
'Charlie's legacy' inspires change
Wednesday's apology and pardon followed a meeting between the family, Mr Quigley, Police Minister Paul Papalia, Minister for the Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Simone McGurk and incoming police commissioner Col Blanch.
"While there is always more work to be done, there has been significant progress in how the Western Australian police force respond to family violence, and how officers work with Aboriginal people, since 2013," Mr Papalia told Parliament.
"Baby Charlie's legacy will be a commitment from this government to do everything in its power to prevent another senseless, tragic death in our community."
Ms McGurk said the tragedy "reminds us to do better".
"The events that unfolded over the course of the evening, and the following day, demonstrate how an inadequate understanding of family and domestic violence can have utterly devastating consequences," she said.
Greater involvement of Department of Justice staff in family and domestic violence incidents, particularly to help understand the risks around perpetrators, was a specific area of progress Ms McGurk pointed to.
"While we cannot change the past, I sincerely hope that today's events can support you and your family's healing journey," Ms McGurk said.
Police commissioner Chris Dawson said discussions were taking place with the family.
"We're working very, very closely with the family to ensure that we can do as much as we can to ensure that such an event never occurs again," he said.
Crimes 'shocked the public conscience'
In 2014, Bell was sentenced to at least 27 years in prison for murder, in a crime that was described as "evil" and one which "shocks the public conscience" by then-Justice John McKechnie.
The next year, Bell took his own life in the special handling unit of Casuarina Prison.
A report by the Corruption and Crime Commission in 2016 found there had been a "delayed and ineffective response" by individual officers on the night Ms Mullaley was arrested, but concluded it was "impossible to know" whether a more rapid response could have changed the outcome.
Ms Mullaley and her family had been campaigning for a coronial inquest into baby Charlie's death, but that was rejected by Supreme Court judge Rene Le Miere in 2020.
An inquest, from a legal perspective, is held to produce new evidence or clarify the facts around a death, with any recommendations about police policy or procedures ancillary to that function.
At the time, Ms Mullaley had been hoping to appeal directly to Attorney-General John Quigley to order an inquest.
