WA doctor pleads guilty to attempted murder over script given to mother of girl with disability
By Joanna Menagh, ABC News
A doctor from the Great Southern region of Western Australia has pleaded guilty to attempted murder for giving a prescription to a woman who allegedly used the medication to try to kill her six-year-old daughter, who has a severe disability.
Key points:
- Pieter Theunis Austin gave a woman an insulin script
- She allegedly injected it into her daughter so she would “pass away”
- Austin will face court again in December for a sentencing hearing
Pieter Theunis Austin, 48, entered the guilty plea when he faced the Stirling Gardens Magistrates court this morning via video link from Casuarina prison.
He has been in custody since February this year when he was arrested by Child Abuse Squad detectives.
A previous court hearing was been told that in mid-January, the girl’s mother, who cannot be identified, obtained a prescription for synthetic insulin from Austin, which she then injected into her daughter so that she would “pass away peacefully”.
A relative later noticed that the girl was not well and rushed her to the local hospital, where she was stabilised before being airlifted to Perth Children’s hospital.
To read the rest of the article, please click LINK
