It is possible to imagine a world in which Malachi Subecz is still alive.
Malachi, an adventurous, charming, kind youngster mad about dinosaurs and whose favourite movie was The Land Before Time, would be living with his maternal whānau in Wellington.
It would have been a busy household, alive with the sound of children, that provided a stable environment for the boy after a chaotic few years of moving around.
Having just started his second year of primary school, Malachi would be adjusting to daily routines and picking up the basics of reading, writing, and maths.
He would have celebrated his 7th birthday this coming September with five cousins he adored, whose birthdays fell within six weeks of his own. He would be happy, loved, and safe.
But Malachi never got the opportunity to live in that world.
He died in November 2021 at the hands of his caregiver, a woman named Michaela Barriball, after suffering months of unimaginable cruelty that left him so terrified he would soil himself.
Barriball had become Malachi’s caregiver (for which she received $700 a week in welfare payments) at the insistence of his mother, Jasmine Cotter.
Barriball and Cotter were friends.
Today, for the first time, the Weekend Herald can reveal details of a Family Court case that outlines how Malachi came to be in temporary care of Barriball - and the desperate efforts of a cousin who wanted to take Malachi in.
Megan, who asked for her surname not to be published, sought guardianship of Malachi and also raised concerns with Oranga Tamariki about Barriball.
“We didn’t have any solid proof but we knew something wasn’t right,” Megan said in an exclusive interview this week.
“We tried to get Malachi the right way. Now my family and I wish we’d driven to Tauranga and picked him up anyway.“
Malachi Rain Subecz was born in Tokoroa on September 28 in 2016. At the time of his birth, he lived with his 19-year-old mother, Jasmine Cotter, at his paternal grandmother’s house along with some aunts and uncles.
When he was three months old, Malachi moved to Auckland with his mother and her new partner. The couple eventually married in 2018 and Malachi grew close to his step-father, even after the relationship ended.
Malachi and Jasmine then left Auckland to live in Wellington, where they stayed with an aunt for a year, before switching back-and-forth between the capital and Tauranga.
It was during this time that Jasmine Cotter became caught up in the drug world. She was charged in April 2021 with importing methamphetamine and MDMA, albeit as a small player in a syndicate investigated by Customs.
Despite her lowly role, prison was inevitable. So Jasmine started talking with her Wellington whānau about who could look after Malachi in her absence.
Different conversations were had with different relatives. There were a number who would have taken him in a heartbeat.
Secretly, Jasmine didn’t want that. She was worried about losing custody of Malachi to a family member, or his step-father, after she was released from prison.
To allay their fears, she told whānau that Malachi would live in Wellington with her niece Megan - who had children of a similar age.
Instead, she decided that her friend Barriball was the best person to care for her son.
Barriball lived in Tauranga, so part of Jasmine’s logic was that Malachi wouldn’t need to travel as far to visit the women’s prison in Auckland.
Without telling anyone in her family, on the 18th of June 2021, Jasmine prepared an application to the Family Court to appoint Barriball (26, unemployed and no children of her own) as an additional guardian.
Jasmine explained that, if she pleaded guilty to the charges, she would be remanded in custody and unable to care for her son.
“Malachi knows Michaela well and has a close relationship with her,” Jasmine wrote in her affidavit.
“I trust Michaela to care for Malachi. There is no other person that is in a position to do this for me.”
Three days later, Malachi watched in the Tauranga District Court as his mother was led away to the cells after admitting the drug charges. He left with Barriball.
Jasmine’s admission of guilt on that day came as a shock to her family in Wellington.
“We had no idea,” said Megan. “One of my other aunties called and she thought Malachi was with me. We had no clue where he was, so we were so worried.”
Later that day, Megan received a Facebook message from a complete stranger: Barriball.
She told Megan that Malachi, just 4, was staying with her.
The immediate relief that Malachi was safe soon gave way to grave fears once Megan joined the dots: Barriball was the daughter of one of the people arrested with Cotter on drugs charges.
She was worried that Jasmine, who in her opinion was easily influenced, had been manipulated into handing Malachi to someone who could then effectively hold him hostage.
Her theory was the pre-schooler could be used as leverage to blackmail Jasmine to stop her from ever co-operating with the police as a “rat” or witness.
On learning what happened, Megan immediately called the Department of Corrections to speak with her aunt.
Prison staff said Jasmine was unavailable but would call her back.
In the meantime, Megan went into the nearest Oranga Tamariki office the next day to make a “report of concern” to the duty social worker.
Megan shared her blackmail concerns but also explained that Malachi needed extra attention because of his learning difficulties.
Malachi had never been away from his mother, Megan told the social worker, and their wider whānau in Wellington had genuine concerns for his well-being in the care of strangers.
This “Report of Concern” on June 22, 2021 was transferred to the Oranga Tamariki office in Tauranga.
The next day, Malachi’s step-father also called Oranga Tamariki and was transferred to the Tauranga office. He explained his connection and said he was very worried he did not know where Malachi was.
A social worker told the step-father that someone had already raised concerns about Malachi’s safety, and someone would call him back. They never did.
The step-father tried to call Jasmine in prison, but his request was refused as they were no longer in a relationship.
That same day, Jasmine called Megan from prison. She asked Jasmine if she could pick up Malachi from Barriball, as she was anxious he might get hurt.
Jasmine refused and shared her belief that Barriball and her family would not harm her son because they were her friends. Megan disagreed.
She told Jasmine that she had spoken with Oranga Tamariki and would also seek custody in the Family Court.
“They are not your friends,” Megan told Jasmine.
“They are the reason you are in [prison].”
After feeling as if Oranga Tamariki were not listening to her concerns, Megan thought she needed to provide evidence to corroborate her concerns. So she asked Barriball to send a photo of Malachi, ostensibly to check how his eyes had recovered after his recent surgery.
Malachi didn’t look quite right in the photograph. Megan thought she saw bruising, and other whānau agreed, so she emailed the image to Oranga Tamariki.
“I have been in contact and raised my concerns already and was asked to send this through. Possible bruising around the eye?” Megan wrote on June 28, 2021.
“Could be nothing but best to pass it on to you guys.”
Two social workers at the Tauranga site looked at the photo but did not see any bruising, in their opinion. Neither the photograph, or their analysis, was recorded on the Oranga Tamariki internal records system known as CYRAS.
That same day, Cotter called Oranga Tamariki to explain why she had placed Malachi in the care of Barriball.
“She doesn’t understand why her family is judging Michaela,” according to the CYRAS notes.
“She would not have placed Malachi with Michaela if he didn’t want to be there and she didn’t think it was safe.”
The social worker noted that Jasmine Cotter would apply to the Family Court to support guardianship and parenting orders for Barriball.
The very next day, Oranga Tamariki concluded the initial “Report of Concern” from Megan needed no further action.
“There was nothing to say that Malachi’s mother couldn’t make decisions for her son,” the social worker wrote in her recommendation.
Case closed.
However, there was no evidence that the social worker (or the supervisor who approved the recommendation) ever saw the photograph of suspected bruising on Malachi’s face.
Megan told the Weekend Herald she felt that Oranga Tamariki didn’t take the photo seriously because the social workers had “written her off”.
“I had my concerns about the possibility of blackmail, but I didn’t have any proof. So I think [Oranga Tamariki] thought I was searching, stretching… like what I had to say was out the gate.
“But it was mainly a gut feeling. I knew something wasn’t right.”
Cotter then filed an application to the Family Court asking for joint guardianship to be granted to Barriball.
In a sworn affidavit, Barriball confirmed she had no criminal record, no history with Oranga Tamariki, or any family violence in her life.
“I have a good relationship with Malachi and have known him since he was about 1 ½ [years old],” Barriball wrote. “I understand Jasmine believes I am the best person in Malachi’s life to be in a position to do this…Malachi does ask me where his mum is a lot.”
Judge Christina Cook did not grant the application immediately. Instead, the judge ordered that an experienced lawyer be appointed to represent Malachi and report back to the court.
This opened a small window of opportunity for Megan. She filed her own application to the Family Court asking that she be appointed as Malachi’s guardian instead.
Jasmine and Malachi would often stay with her family in Wellington, Megan wrote in an affidavit, which meant she had a “very strong bond” with the little boy.
Her own children “adored” their cousin, and as a full-time mother, Megan said she had the patience and time to cope with his needs.
Malachi was non-verbal until he was 3, said Megan, but even now his speech and engagement was more like a toddler’s. He also had “behavioural issues” which she attributed to undiagnosed autism or Asperger’s syndrome.
Her plan was to get a GP referral to a paediatrician for an assessment, and Megan had already checked that Malachi could attend the local kindergarten.
“I worry that because of Michaela’s lack of experience and understanding of his special needs, that she may be getting overwhelmed with his behaviour,” Megan wrote in her affidavit.
When Michaela brought Malachi down to Wellington in July for his appointment with the eye surgeon, Megan said she noticed “little to no interaction” between caregiver and child.
“He was very clingy to the point that when they left, he refused to let me go saying ‘I not want to go, I stay here’,” Megan wrote in her affidavit. “It was clear there was no bond between them.”
What was not in the affidavit, was Megan’s plan to covertly check for any signs of abuse.
She purchased new clothes for Malachi and he changed in front of her; there were no marks on his body.
When she hugged him goodbye, Malachi clung to her “like a koala to a tree”.
She whispered to him: “Don’t worry. You’ll be back here soon”.
On the 17th of August 2021, barrister Penni Eagle submitted her first report to the Family Court.
As the “lawyer-for-child” representing Malachi in the proceedings, Eagle had met with her client and Barriball at her Tauranga chambers. She had also spoken with Megan by phone, and made enquiries with the police and Oranga Tamariki [which had already closed the report of concern].
Malachi was very well-behaved and sat quietly in the office, but Eagle noticed that he seemed to lack understanding.
While Barriball had presented as “open and honest”, Eagle’s report stated that the allegations made by Megan - which essentially repeated the previous report of concern to Oranga Tamariki - were “significant”.
She supported Megan’s request for leave to join the Family Court proceedings.
“I believe that we need to ascertain what is happening for my client, what his needs are and who will care for him long-term in the absence of his mother,” Eagle wrote.
“I also support that [the] family needs to be heard… Malachi is turning 5 next month. He needs to be placed where he is going to live for the coming years as a matter of urgency.”
In a minute issued in September 2021, Judge Stephen Coyle agreed that a hearing needed to be held as soon as possible. He ordered for all parties to file their evidence and submissions within two weeks, and the court registry to prioritise the case.
The next available date was November 1, 2021; the sole issue to determine was whether Malachi would live with Barriball (as agreed with his mother) or his cousin Megan.
Lawyers for all parties consented to Barriball being an interim guardian for Malachi, as she was already making decisions for him on a day-to-day basis.
They were sleeping in a portable cabin shifted onto a property in Te Puna, just north of Tauranga, where Barriball’s father lived in a separate house.
Malachi and Barriball showered and ate in her father’s house, along with three of her nieces and nephews - aged 5 to 10 - who also lived there.
Over the coming weeks, the parties filed affidavits arguing over who should get Malachi.
The theory that Malachi was in danger because his mother had “ratted out” others in the drugs case was rejected by both Cotter and Barriball.
Malachi and Barriball were “like two peas in a pod”, said Jasmine, who considered her friend to be like a godmother to him.
In her affidavit, Barriball said she had kept Malachi in the same day-care centre and had enrolled him at Te Puna Primary, where Jasmine planned for him to attend.
He turned 5 on September 28, 2021 and was due to start school after the October holidays.
“I am providing certainty and stability for Malachi,” wrote Barriball. “I have a lot of love for Malachi and want to ensure he has the best care possible.”
Four days before the Family Court hearing was supposed to begin, Barriball called in sick.
She had travelled to Hamilton in breach of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions at the time, according to a letter filed by her lawyer, and was now sick with flu-like symptoms.
Barriball was awaiting the result of a Covid test, but given her illness it was unlikely she would be allowed inside the courtroom.
She also didn’t have a laptop, or internet access at home, meaning she couldn’t attend by audio-visual link.
Given those problems, Barriball’s lawyer asked for the hearing to be pushed back until November 10, 2021, to which Judge Coyle reluctantly agreed.
Barriball’s excuses were all lies.
At 8.27am on November 1, 2021, the day the Family Court hearing was originally scheduled, Barriball carried Malachi from the cabin they shared into the main dwelling on the property.
He was unconscious and having seizures. Attempting to revive the boy, Barriball’s father splashed water on his face. They called 111 and Barriball told the operator that Malachi had fallen over while getting changed for school and had a fit.
The ambulance arrived at 8.45am to find Malachi flailing on the couch. His uncontrolled movements lifted his shirt and exposed his abdomen, revealing a horrible burn mark.
When questioned by the paramedics, Barriball and her father said Malachi had clumsily turned on the hot water in the shower and scalded himself.
The five-year-old was taken to Tauranga Hospital before being airlifted to Starship Hospital in Auckland, where he was intubated and surgeons performed emergency surgery.
As well as the life-threatening damage to his brain, doctors found the following injuries:
- A black eye
- Heavy bruising across his body (chin, jaw, both elbows, right hip, left thigh)
- Abrasions and cuts on his legs (indicative of grabbing)
- The large burn on his stomach.
He was also severely malnourished, weighing just 16kg.
The District Health Board made a joint referral to Oranga Tamariki and the Bay of Plenty police, which started an urgent investigation.
Barriball gave detectives a different story to what she told the paramedics. According to her interview, Malachi had reached for the top of a set of drawers, lost his balance and toppled backwards, striking his head on the corner of the bed.
She also gave different versions to other members of her family: That Malachi had tripped over an extension cord, or lost his balance because he was half-asleep, or had a seizure.
The problem was that none of those explanations fitted with the injuries on his body.
Perhaps the only truthful statement that Barriball made were text messages sent to her partner:
“So bub if I go to prison I’m very sorry for that ok… I’m sorry if I got locked up baby.”
There was another problem. Doctors and social workers in Starship Hospital did not want to consult with Barriball about his care, as she was a suspect, but officially she was one of Malachi’s guardians.
Penni Eagle, his lawyer in the Family Court case, made an application to strip Barriball’s legal rights.
But at such an early stage of the police investigation, Judge Coyle said there was insufficient evidence to yet prove Barriball had inflicted the injuries and revoke her guardianship without notification.
Recognising the urgency of the situation, the judge looked for a different legal path. He directed that lawyers for Oranga Tamariki make an application for Malachi to be placed under the guardianship of the Family Court.
At a hearing the following day, Judge Coyle outlined the latest update from Starship’s senior paediatrician, Dr Patrick Kelly.
The left side of Malachi’s brain was dead, as was part of the right. Dr Kelly gave him a 3 per cent chance of survival.
“The concern of social workers and Starship are that Ms Barriball remains with Malachi and that she is using the order appointing her as an additional guardian to be involved in decisions about Malachi,” said Judge Coyle.
“It is my view there is a clear conflict for her in terms of her potential self-interest and the need to protect her position, and the welfare and best interests and safety for Malachi.”
The judge placed Malachi under the guardianship of the Family Court, which had the effect that neither Barriball - or Cotter - had a legal right to make any decisions for Malachi.
Oranga Tamariki was appointed as the agent of the Court, however, with the strict condition that any decisions about Malachi’s care could only be made with the agreement of his mother.
She had been granted compassionate leave from the prison and remained at his bedside, albeit with guards standing nearby. Malachi passed away on the 12th of November 2021, two days after his breathing tube was removed.
Judge Coyle immediately discharged the Court’s guardianship of Malachi, so his mother could make arrangements for his tangi.
“I want her to know that her son’s death has impacted those of us who have made decisions and been involved in Malachi’s life, and that we too grieve his death and the loss of his potential in life,” Judge Coyle wrote in a minute.
“Ms Cotter; your son’s death is not your fault. It is the fault of whoever is found, in time, to have harmed him. Aroha nui ki a koe.”
Three days before Christmas 2021, Michaela Barriball was charged with murder, injuring with intent, and ill-treatment of a child. It was only then that the true extent of Malachi’s final months were laid bare by the police investigation.
She had slapped him around the head, face and body. She would push him into walls and onto the ground. He started soiling himself out of fear, so Barriball would strip him to his underwear and lock him outside.
To make Malachi obey her, she would frequently feign to hit him with a closed fist and say: “I’m going to punch you in the face soon”.
On one occasion when Malachi was in the bath, Barriball pushed his head under the water. When allowed up for air, he asked her to stop. So she did it again.
Detectives also combed through Barriball’s phone records.
She sent her partner a series of incriminating text messages, in the week starting October 12, 2021, which included the following:
- “I’m more scared I’m gonna kill him if he don’t watch it seriously”.
- “I can’t handle him seriously”.
- “I think I will kill him yar”.
- “F*** man I’m got much anger on this boy [sic] and I can’t calm myself.”
The investigation team established that burns found on Malachi’s body were inflicted on October 18, 2021. It was supposed to be his first day at school.
That morning, he soiled himself. Barriball put him into the shower and turned the hot water on.
Building regulations in New Zealand mean water should be no hotter than 55C when it comes out of the tap. This is because it only takes five seconds for 60C water to burn human skin.
The water at Barriball’s home was measured by police as reaching 73C, as did the temperature of the removable shower head.
It’s likely the deep, black 13cm mark left on Malachi’s abdomen was caused by an object pressed into his skin. He was left screaming on a sheet in the lounge.
The next day, Barriball texted her sister. “I wanna take him to hospital but I’m fucking scared asf man.”
The police investigation also identified missed opportunities for other adults to save Malachi.
On October 23, a few days after Malachi was scalded in the shower, Barriball took him to a family function at a restaurant in Mt Maunganui. Security camera footage showed the boy was in pain, hunched over and walking slowly. Despite his face being obscured by the hood of a sweatshirt, and his fringe pulled down, several whanau noticed a burn on his forehead.
Barriball assured her concerned relatives that he burnt himself in the shower, and a doctor had seen the injuries. More lies.
Detectives also interviewed staff at the daycare he attended each day, Abbey’s Place Childcare Centre in Brookfield, and discovered that Malachi had arrived with a black eye on September 27.
He had fallen off his bike, Barriball said. But when staff later asked Malachi if he fell, the boy said ‘no’. He also told them that “Michaela would be angry”. The daycare staff took photos of the bruising for their records but did not notify the Ministry of Education (as was their policy), Oranga Tamariki or the police.
Following Malachi’s death and subsequently learning of these failures, the Ministry of Education cancelled the operating licence for Abbey’s Place.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Megan told the Weekend Herald, “I rang the kindy myself early on and said, ‘if you notice anything, please make sure it’s reported’.”
A similar point was made by Justice Paul Davison in April 2022 when sentencing Barriball to life imprisonment. She will serve at least 17 years before becoming eligible for parole, in part because of her cruelty and the gross abuse of trust.
“You held all the power and you abused that power in the most callous and inhumane way imaginable. Your abuse clearly sits at the highest end of any scale.”
While Barriball alone was culpable for Malachi’s abuse, the High Court judge went on to point out that young children are especially vulnerable and unable to speak effectively for themselves.
“Leaving it to others to act can so easily lead to tragic consequences as is the case here… after a number of opportunities had arisen when adults could have taken steps to intervene and report what they observed to be happening,” Justice Davison said.
“This is the clear lesson that everyone should take from what has happened here. And as is well known, serious violence to children is all too frequent in New Zealand and stopping it will require a fully committed community response. For Malachi and his family, this is a high price to pay for that lesson which must be acted upon with collective responsibility.”
Malachi Subecz. James Whakaruru. Lillybing. Coral-Ellen Burrows. The Kahui twins. Nia Glassie. Moko Rangitoheriri. Leon Michael Jayet-Coles.
Every year, more names are added to New Zealand’s shameful list of children who have died at the hands of the adults entrusted to protect them.
Between 2009 and 2019, 78 deaths were confirmed as the result of abuse and neglect - that’s nearly eight young lives per year.
More recent deaths are still being investigated, or making their way through the courts, which means several years can pass before an official finding can be made.
Many of these tragedies have been the subject of reviews, or Coronial inquests, to identify mistakes made by the relevant government agencies and make recommendations to stop the next child from being killed.
Malachi Subecz’s death triggered three inquiries.
The first was by the Chief Ombudsman, Judge Peter Boshier, following a complaint laid by Megan’s father.
In October 2022, Judge Boshier (who used to sit on the Family Court bench) published a stinging decision which detailed how Oranga Tamariki failed to properly investigate the “Report of Concern” made by Malachi’s cousin Megan.
The Chief Ombudsman was particularly concerned that the photograph of suspected bruising on Malachi, sent by Megan, was not mentioned in the social worker’s decision-making process.
Oranga Tamariki was wrong in taking no further action, said Judge Boshier.
“There is no evidence that Oranga Tamariki had considered engaging with Malachi, nor had it otherwise considered conducting a safety check of the caregiver’s home… it is apparent that Malachi’s welfare and interests were wrongly assumed to be addressed or overridden by his mother’s endorsement of the caregiver.”
Those conclusions were later corroborated in the second inquiry, conducted by Oranga Tamariki’s chief social worker Peter Whitcombe, published in December.
Whitcombe’s report revealed that the Tauranga West site, which was handling Malachi’s case, was struggling to cope with workload pressure and “office culture challenges”.
This toxic environment had not been addressed by Oranga Tamariki management, and Whitcombe said this “likely” contributed to poor decisions made for Malachi.
The initial Report of Concern by Megan should have been assessed by an experienced social worker, said Whitcombe, especially as the “potential for manipulation and blackmail in the relationship between Malachi’s mother and Michaela required deeper exploration”.
Of note in Whitcombe’s report, was the revelation that Jasmine Cotter’s probation officer also made a “Report of Concern” a few weeks after Megan did - and voiced the same blackmail fear about Malachi being used as “leverage in the court process”.
The social worker advised her that those concerns had been assessed and no further action was required. However, the phone call from the probation officer on July 19, 2021 was not treated as a new “Report of Concern”, or recorded in Oranga Tamariki’s internal system, or communicated to a supervisor.
Combined with the incorrectly recorded “bruising” photo, and the phone call from Malachi’s stepfather that was ignored, Whitcombe said these three key pieces of information were not properly considered.
“This had a serious impact and culminated in a misinformed decision to not fully assess the concerns for Malachi or understand more about his safety and wellbeing,” Whitcombe said.
“This would have led to a visit to Malachi.”
Finally, the third review into Malachi’s death was undertaken by Dame Karen Poutasi.
With a long and distinguished career in the public service, Dame Karen’s brief was to identify how government agencies could better work together to stop another child from slipping through the gaps.
The Poutasi report, also published in December, identified five “critical” gaps and made 14 recommendations to the Government to fix them.
She was also possessed enough self-awareness to realise her findings repeated many of the findings from the 33 previous reviews on the topic of child abuse, written over the past 30 years.
“I find it unacceptable that I need to once again make similar findings about how the system is - or is not - interacting,” wrote Dame Karen.
“As a society, we cannot continue to allow a cycle of abuse, review, outrage and distress - and then retreat from the difficult challenges.”
Megan is not optimistic that the necessary changes will be made.
While Kelvin Davis, the Minister for Oranga Tamariki, has fully accepted nine of Dame Karen’s 14 recommendations, the government has only pledged to “look carefully” at the remaining five before Cabinet makes a decision.
But two of those uncommitted recommendations would have made the most difference for Malachi, Megan told the Weekend Herald: Mandatory reporting of suspected abuse and the automatic vetting of caregivers when a solo parent is imprisoned.
She is waiting patiently to hear of the government’s plans, and is due to meet with Chappie Te Kani, the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki, later this month.
Until those decisions are set in concrete, one way or another, Megan feels she won’t be able to fully grieve for what she’s lost. The world where Malachi can’t stop talking about dinosaurs and is getting up to mischief with his cousins.
“We had a bed made up for him, all set out with clothing, because I was pretty sure he would be coming home from court with us,” said Megan.
“Our kids talk about Malachi all the time. But for myself, this sounds weird, but it hasn’t really hit me yet. Because I’m more of a person who focuses on doing things. And we’ve still got shit to get done to make any real change.”
The final word should go to Jasmine Cotter, Malachi’s mother. She thought giving him to her friend Michaela Barriball was the right thing to do, according to her interview with the Oranga Tamariki review.
She is still in prison but appearing before the Parole Board later this month. Following the release of the public reviews in December, the Department of Corrections issued an unedited statement on her behalf.
“There are no words that can describe the emotions I’ve felt over this past year. Something like this I would not wish upon anyone. I’ve made my mistakes, all of which I live with every single day. All I hope to come from this is this does not happen to other parents doing a lag who have kids. Do not trust anyone with your kids who aren’t family. A harsh lesson I’ve learnt in the worst possible way.”