Fatal Queensland house fire inquiry hears father was 'pretty abusive'

The mother of a south-east Queensland boy who was killed in a house fire has broken down while giving evidence at an inquest probing his death.

In 2017, her former partner and their two young sons, whose names have been legally suppressed, were badly burnt at their rural property in 2017.

The oldest boy died a day later in hospital and his death is now the subject of a coronial inquiry being held in Brisbane. 

On Thursday, the child's mother took the witness stand and was questioned about her "on and off" relationship with the boys' father.

She told the court since they started dating in 2011, he was regularly violent towards her.

"He was an alcoholic, so he was pretty abusive," she said.

Fire threats

The woman recounted one incident in the year before the house fire, where she said he had "threatened to put fuel on me and set me on fire".

When they would break up, she told the court he would burn her and her children's belongings and would take photographs of the destroyed items and send it to her.

She told the court he was also physically violent with their older son when he tried to help his mother and recalled one occasion where he threw him and caused injuries.

"[Their older son] always tried to protect me," she said.

She told the court in early 2017 she and the boys left the rural home, as she was "scared for mine and my kid's life", but later that year the children returned to his care.

When asked about the day of the fire, the woman became emotional and cried before telling the court, she had nothing to do with starting it.

"I definitely would not do that to my children," she said.

The inquest has already heard immediately after the fire, the father had told police the mother was likely involved, however police ruled her out as a suspect.

She told the court once at the hospital with her children, the father told her differing stories about what started the blaze and where he was when it broke out.

The father later tried to suggest the woman's ex-partner was responsible, but he was not in the state at the time, she said.

She told the court, to this day he will not tell her what caused the fire.

"I don't even know what happened," she said through tears.

'It was my idiot dad'

Earlier this week, the court heard in the years following the deadly fire, the surviving boy had made conflicting disclosures to multiple people about who was responsible.

In 2018, whilst attending child care, the court heard he had told a teacher, "my dad burnt me in the fire, he burnt me with a lighter".

Some years later in 2021, he told a carer "I'd still be with my dad if I didn't blow the candle too much" and he "feels guilty about [his brother] dying", who he described as a "black and purple butterfly now".

In 2022, the court heard during a fire drill at school he told his class he was asleep when the fire broke out and "it was my idiot dad, he tried to kill me and [my brother], fricking idiot".

During a violent interaction at school in 2025, the court heard the boy said "I want to kill my dad".

Detective Sergeant Julie Castle told the court she spoke with the younger boy in 2018, and he described the fire as looking "like a monster" and said, "it was a scary night" and blamed his father for causing it.

The court heard the child told police "I got in trouble because of my dad because I'm not allowed to talk about the house fire".

Sergeant Castle told the court the father became a suspect and was interviewed in 2022.

She said they were considering charging him with manslaughter but determined there was not enough evidence to prosecute him.

"The decision was made at that point we might not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt (at trial)," she said.

"I found it unlikely … but I was unable to say."

The inquest, which is trying to determine the cause of the fire, continues.