The mother of Bradyn Dillon says she was heartbroken and shattered when she learned of the "horrendous" abuse her "extremely compassionate" nine-year-old son endured before his death at the hands of his father.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Rachel Jones expected to feel relieved as she walked out of the courtroom after Graham Stuart Dillon, 39, admitted last week he killed his son.
"But the reality is that nothing can bring my little boy home where he was safe, cherished and loved," Ms Jones said.
"The world is a darker place for me now."
Dillon pleaded guilty in the ACT Supreme Court to murdering and assaulting Bradyn at his Jacka home in 2016.
Ms Jones said in a statement her son would be remembered as "a mummy's boy" and he had "always looked at me with such love and told me I was beautiful".
"Very few people are able to make me feel as special as he made me feel.
"Bradyn had a way of making everybody around him feel joyful and was extremely compassionate for a boy of his age.
"If there was ever someone left out he would ensure they felt included and went out of his way to make them happy."
She believed children should have freedom "to play in the mud, dance in the rain, to be free to learn from their mistakes and for adults to guide them appropriately without violence and abuse".
"My heart was broken and my life shattered by the knowledge [Bradyn] was subject to such horrendous abuse."
Court documents revealed the extent of Dillon's worsening violence against his son in the months before the boy died.
They detailed dozens of injuries to Bradyn's body, including bruises, scabs and raw wounds.
Dillon had put out cigarettes on his son's skin, choked him until he passed out and punched him in the stomach with such force he broke the boy's rib.
He held his head underwater in the bath so he couldn't breathe, and would pick him up and throw him against the wall.
Dillon bashed the boy's head at least twice in two months, causing bruising and bleeding to his brain. A final bashing on February 15 caused Bradyn's old brain injuries to re-bleed.
He fell unconscious and never woke up. Dillon was arrested when paramedics and police were called to the house hours later.
Bradyn was taken to hospital. He could not be revived.
Ms Jones claimed she, her family and other community members had tried to get authorities to intervene when they realised Bradyn was in danger and said she fought for her son "in every way possible".
But she said the system designed to help protect children was "broken" and more needed to be done to ensure children were saved from abuse.
"Our community needs to be more diligent in protecting our children, no-one should look away.
"We need to be aware of the red flags and follow through on concerns until protection is given to a child who is suffering from violence.
"Domestic violence is the root of this problem and the real reason my little boy has lost his life."
Bradyn's murder followed a string of family violence killings that rocked the capital and sparked community outcry in early 2015.
His death prompted the Glanfield Inquiry into systemic responses to family violence, which partly informed the ACT government's unprecedented $21.4 million spend on reforms and services in the 2016 budget.
Last week, ACT children and youth minister Rachel Stephen-Smith would not be drawn on the specifics of the case while Dillon remained before the courts.
But she said lessons had been learnt from Bradyn's "tragic" case and the inquiry, and processes around care teams and the ways information was shared and gathered had changed as a result.
Ms Stephen-Smith gave her "heartfelt condolences to Bradyn's mother and the whole family".
Dillon will be sentenced in December.
