A Queensland woman is pursuing legal action against a childcare centre after she says her baby was punched, scratched and bitten by a four-year-old boy while the children were unsupervised.
Angela Swindells’ son Jack was aged seven months when he was attacked at the northern Brisbane daycare centre in August 2018.
But while the centre said staff had intervened quickly, and a report noted Jack’s injuries as a “scratch”, Swindells says her four-year-old daughter was the first to intervene while the educator in charge was busy changing another child’s nappy.
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“If it wasn’t for my daughter having to pull a four-year-old child off, I don’t know what else he would have sustained from that,” Swindells told 7NEWS.
An incident report by centre staff, seen by 7NEWS.com.au, says the boy attacked Jack when he would not let go of a toy.
Swindells and her legal representatives, from Shine Lawyers, have expressed doubt over the report’s claim that staff intervened “within seconds”.
Swindells said she was “furious” that the centre reported Jack’s injuries as a “scratch”, with photos showing him with multiple scratches, including on his scalp and under his eyes.
She says Jack was bitten on the arm, punched in the face, his eyes were gouged and he was hit with a puzzle-piece block.
“My doctor told me that was not an injury that was sustained in seconds, it would have been minutes,” she said.
Swindells also questioned why four-year-olds had been left in a room with babies.
She said her son, who has now started school, was traumatised by the event and has a range of long-term issues.
“He has behavioural issues, eyesight issues, he’s diagnosed with traits of ADHD and (has) problems with toileting,” Swindells said.
In a statement, the childcare centre said staff immediately acted when they became aware of the incident, and that the centre was “fully compliant” with child-to-staff ratios at the time.
“(Staff) administered appropriate first aid, and parents and the regulatory authority were notified, resolving the issue,” the centre said.
“We did not hear anything further until March 2022, almost four years later, when we were contacted by Shine Lawyers. We are unaware of any new legal action.
“We remain ready and willing to engage to resolve the existing claim.”
Swindells said parents need to be able to check staffing ratios at daycare centres.
“It’s traumatising to think that you put your trust in a childcare centre to look after your child, and you pick them up and they look like that,” she said. “It’s appalling.”
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