Oh yes, it's all about those nasty black-hooded men, never a mention that 50% of all child homicide is committed by the mother.

Sadly, this sort of hate-filled diatribe is a standard piece of propaganda used by bitter women who see the children as their meal-ticket and the bandwagon-riders who use those women as an excuse to try to justify their own endeavours to secure a free ride.

I do wish these people weren't so dishonest, though.

Even the Premier of Vic asked the question.

What was it that pushed this man to this point?

Barbara then hypotheses that this little girl was subjected to either child abuse or domestic violence.

How do we know what the details are?

Is Barbara in possession of affidavates of this case?

Barbara wishes to paint all dads with the same brush, incredibly when a mother commits murder, she is offered lots of support and sympathy. There was a recent case where a mother had also thrown her child off that bridge.

Feminists like Barbara would like people to beleive that PAS is a crackpot science. This position is misleading as the American Pyschological Association.

<Rhea K. Farberman, Executive Director of Public and Member Communications of the American Psychological Association, retorted that these feminist these claims are "incorrect" and "inaccurate," and that the APA "does not have an official position on parental alienation syndrome--pro or con.">

It's been years since I studied family law but I remember that even then the system seemed stacked against kids. No fault divorce is a great advance on the old way of doing things - e.g. having to "prove" infidelity - but we still have a long way to go in delivering a system that puts the kids first.

And not just when it comes to divorce.

Gathering evidence from kids is fraught with difficulties and when mixed with the bitterness and acrimony that usually exists between the parents it makes me wonder how we can put a stop to the kind of horrors regularly meted out on innocents by grown ups.

Little Darcey, a mere 4 year old, all that potential, snuffed out in a fit of pique by someone who allegedly loved her enough to demand custody.

Great system we've got there...

Thank-you Barbara Biggs for speaking out, both as a human being and importantly, as a journalist, about the murder of Darcey by one of her parents, and for encouraging other journalists to also do so.

The real issue remains, in my view,the calibre of judicial decisions and "expert" evidence, which is accepted by the Family Court in Child Abuse cases.

Tony Koch, senior journalist, of "The Australian" has published several articles on the Family Court, and its alleged "experts" which are illuminating in this reagrd.

Jane Shields of ABC Radio National also presented a "Background Briefing" on PAS.

There is, as far as I am aware, no requirement for "experts" appointed by the FC to have any specialist training at all in Child Abuse and Child Sexual Abuse.

The fact that the President of the APS, who I believe is Professor Bob Momtgomery has also now publicly commented on the calibre of counsellors accepted by the FC is further evidence in this regard.

Darcey and her family, deserve no less than a full and open investigation into her murder ; perhaps a suitably qualified expert in this matter might have picked up the signs of disturbance in Arthur Freeman and alerted those in authority early enough.

Living in Melbourne the media treated us to pictures of Mr Freeman's rented apartment [channel 7] , descriptions of the interior leaving the viewer with no doubt as to his inability to create a pleasant environment for his children to grow up in. This is a man in a well paid job, living in Hawthorn - a wealthy established suburb, whose parents have property at Airey's Inlet [Herald Sun] - a nice holiday spot, whose kids are enrolled at the local Catholic school [Channel 10]. The only reason the boys weren't tossed off the bridge was because a woman bystander stopped him [Herald Sun].

Like many people I wondered why a suicide watch was mounted on the father but that is kinder than sending him down to the general prison at Barwon and leaving glue and matches in the TV room.

The protecting parent faces a great deal of angst trying to protect vulnerable children from irresponsible non-custodial parent demanding access. Whether it's the father or the mother and they are not fit to supervise their child[ren] through drink, drugs, incapacity or nasty nature, children are not listened to until they are 10 to 12 years old and by then the child can be very damaged.

The police and child protection do not like to interfere in cases in the Family Court, and the media was in contempt of court for publishing details of the case.

You have to ask whether further improvements can be made to the family court processes.

One very tragic instance coming from a system which thousands pass through without such tragedy, and the commentariat starts clicking its teeth and looking for someone or something to blame, playing on people's natural horror and emotions.

There is only one person to blame for this poor child's awful death: the father who murdered her.

No matter how imcompetent the family court is, it is no excuse for murdering an innocent child. Any parent who can do this for any reason at all is a monster who should be put down like a mad dog.