A career criminal and meth addict accused of leaving three children to die when he drove off with their mother has been granted bail despite his awful criminal history.
Matthew McAuliffe, 24, allegedly left siblings Izabel, 5, and Lyvia, 2, and their three-year-old brother Kalais to die as he and their mother went out to collect a car door.
Both he and Shania Lee, 25, of Tarneit in Melbourne’s west, are accused of ignoring the children’s screams while watching the house on CCTV as they drove away, a court heard on Tuesday.
They both face two counts of negligent manslaughter and one count of negligently causing serious injury.
The children were pulled unconscious from the rear of a property in Sydenham in Melbourne’s north-west after neighbours raised the alarm on September 8 last year.
Firefighters rescued the children, one by one, before all three were taken to Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital.
Izabel and Lyvia tragically died in hospital, while Kalais survived after being placed in an induced coma. Another child was not home.
Lee was granted bail to live with her mother in Moama, on the NSW-Victoria border, but McAuliffe had stayed behind bars until now due to his shocking criminal history.
Matthew McAuliffe, 24, is a habitual crook who is now accused of leaving three children to die in a house fire
In applying for bail, the court heard McAuliffe had been charged 425 times since he was aged 13, with 101 warrants for his arrest issued over his short life, amounting to 31 pages of previous criminal history.
He had only been released from jail a little more than two months before the fire, moving into the house with Lee and her children a week before the blaze.
In opposing bail, Detective Senior Constable Christopher Mitchell told the court McAuliffe had a ‘propensity for violence’ and last year was arrested just two days after he was released from jail.
In that incident, McAuliffe was found with a stolen car which contained a balaclava, shotgun shells and a homemade ‘slam gun’.
The court heard McAuliffe had not behaved well behind bars either and previously assaulted a prison officer.
But it was his alleged behaviour on the night of the fire that had disturbed police.
Senior Constable Mitchell claimed McAuliffe was captured on prison phones discussing with his now-estranged partner what happened in the immediate moments after they left the house.
‘Evidence obtained from (the) calls suggests that Lee had been viewing an internal camera at the incident location remotely from her phone and was aware of the smoke alarm and the children screaming at the time of the fire,’ he told the court.
Shania Lee declined to discuss allegations she neglected her children and left them to die in a house fire when approached by Daily Mail last month
‘It is also evident that McAuliffe was present with Lee while this occurred. Neither party called 000 nor returned to the property immediately afterwards.
‘Investigators believe this is an aggravating factor of the offending and forms a major basis for the allegation of negligence.’
In a prison call captured on February 20, McAuliffe accused Lee of watching the cameras on the night of the incident and hearing screaming.
‘Lee admits that she watched the cameras at the last minute and informed her mother, Lynn Hawkett,’ Senior Constable Mitchell said.
‘Lee states “it’s nothing, it’s nothing,” and asks whether McAuliffe will use it against her.
‘Investigators believe that the referred screaming is in relation to the children during the fire. Investigators also believe that McAuliffe and Lee are discussing viewing the footage using a phone application on Lee’s mobile.’
In granting bail, Magistrate Phillip Goldberg deemed strict bail conditions would alleviate any risk McAuliffe posed to the community while awaiting his next court appearance in January.
Crown prosecutor Emily Sheales had pleaded with Magistrate Goldberg to keep McAuliffe behind bars.
Matthew McAuliffe, 24, was released on bail accused of leaving three children to die
Jayde Petalas (left) – father of Izabel and Kalais (pictured) – had been estranged from Lee
Little Kalais, 3, was placed in an induced coma after a devastating house fire that killed his two siblings. The toddler survived
‘Through the prison calls the accused says to his co-accused or refers to watching the camera on the night of the incident and hearing screaming and then there being a discussion about that,’ she said.
‘It is the Crown case that shows that very shortly after leaving the premises, and the timeline that set out is within a couple of minutes.
‘The smoke alarm is going off, they’re both aware that the smoke alarm is going off and they’re both aware that there is screaming and that at that point they should have returned. They did not return. They did not call triple zero.’
Ms Sheales said McAuliffe had breached previous bail conditions at least a dozen times in addition to failing to appear at court, breaching community corrections orders, supervision orders and family violence intervention orders.
‘It shows multiple instances of dishonesty, violent offending, access to weapons, and drug offending,’ she said.
‘So in my submission, that significant and lengthy history over a 10-year period when he is only 24 sets him apart from his co-accused.’
The court heard McAuliffe was no longer on speaking terms with his former lover and had lashed out at her on the phone while in jail.
‘I’m coming for you. You better give my f***ing s*** back to me, you little dog. Yeah, cheating on me with Clarkie this year, you dumbs***, mate,’ he allegedly said on one voice message to Lee.
Neighbours reported hearing explosions before and during the fire, which raged for half an hour with the children trapped inside
Shania Lee is accused of abandoning her children to die
‘You got chlamydia, you dirty w***e. F***, you’re a little dog … I’ll see you soon.’
McAuliffe’s barrister Sai Ranjit laid out a variety of reasons for his client’s release.
‘In summary, compelling reasons are established by stable accommodation, family support, CCO treatment, the Crown case’s strength, delay, youth, remand fairness, and parity.’ he said.
‘Regarding risk, he has family support, will live with his mother and grandfather two hours from Melbourne with no known associates, and his mother will report non-compliance, drug use, or further offences.
‘With stringent conditions, any unacceptable risk can be mitigated to an acceptable level.’
Lee refused to comment about the allegations when confronted by the Daily Mail outside Echuca Police Station, where she has to report for bail three times a week, last month.
Lee told a Daily Mail reporter to ‘f*** off’ as she made her way back to a car being driven by her mother, Lynn Hawkett.
Ms Hawkett, who was still wearing her Murray River Council uniform, also refused to answer questions, firing off some expletives of her own as she sped away.
Lee had also been bailed from Melbourne Magistrates’ Court back into the community despite police concerns she would reoffend or not comply with her bail conditions.
Shania Lee makes her way out of the Echuca Police Station last month
Lee (right) and her mum Lynn Hawkett (left) declined to discuss the allegations when approached by the Daily Mail
During that hearing, the court heard the children had been put to bed between 8.30-9pm that night, with McAuliffe – a smoker – heading to the bedroom before leaving and shutting the door behind him.
Police alleged the couple left the children alone to drive to the Sunshine area to ‘steal a car door’ for Lee’s Jeep.
‘They returned to the incident location approximately 20 to 30 minutes after leaving and observed emergency services at the address,’ the detective said.
The court heard Lee was uncooperative with police and had refused to make a statement.
Lee’s defence lawyer Sam Norton said police had no way of knowing whether his client knew the fire was alight when she left the property.
‘And if we put it in these terms, a person in her circumstances would not have known that it was likely that that house was going to burn down,’ he said.
‘With the evidence available, I can’t disagree,’ the detective conceded. ‘However, we believe that she knew.’
The court heard Lee had prior convictions for failing to appear in court while on bail and committing indictable offences on bail.
