‘SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT’

• Published date: 04 March 2023
• Publication title: Daily Post, The (Rotorua, New Zealand)

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, 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 her friend, his mother, Jasmine Cotter.

For the first time, the Weekend Herald can reveal details of a Family Court case that outlines how Malachi came to be in the care of Barriball — and the desperate efforts of a cousin who wanted to take him 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Megan, who asked for her surname not to be published, sought guardianship of Malachi and also raised concerns with Oranga Tamariki about Barriball.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 3 months old, Malachi moved to Auckland with his mother and her new partner. The couple married in 2018 and Malachi grew close to his stepfather, 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 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 Cotter started talking to 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, Cotter didn’t want that. She was worried about losing custody of Malachi to a family member, or his stepfather, 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 Cotter’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 June 18, 2021, Cotter prepared an application to the Family Court to appoint Barriball (26, unemployed, no children of her own) as an additional guardian.

Cotter 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,” she 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.

Cotter’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, now aged 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 Cotter 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 Cotter 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 Cotter was unavailable but would call back.

In the meantime, Megan went to the nearest Oranga Tamariki office the next day to make a “report of concern” to the duty social worker.

She 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 wellbeing 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 stepfather also called Oranga Tamariki and was transferred to the Tauranga office. He explained his connection and said he was very worried because he did not know where Malachi was.

A social worker told the stepfather that someone had already raised concerns about Malachi’s safety, and someone would call him back. They never did.

The stepfather tried to call Cotter in prison, but his request was refused as they were no longer in a relationship.

That same day, Cotter called Megan from prison. Megan asked her if she could pick up Malachi from Barriball, as she was anxious he might get hurt.

Cotter refused and shared her belief that Barriball and her family would not harm her son because they were her friends. Megan disagreed.

She told Cotter she had spoken with Oranga Tamariki and would also seek custody in the Family Court.

“They are not your friends,” Megan told Cotter. “They are...