Canberra mother refused bail over alleged abuse of two-year-old daughter

The 21-year-old, who cannot be named, allegedly slapped or otherwise struck her two-year-old daughter on three occasions earlier this month, the ACT Magistrates Court heard when she was refused bail on Monday.

When she faced court via audio-visual link from a remote room, she did not enter pleas to three counts of common assault or a single charge of subjecting a child in her care to ill-treatment.

Prosecutor Hannah Lee opposed the woman's bail application, describing her alleged actions between August 2 and last Saturday as "a concerning course of conduct".

Ms Lee told the court the defendant was accused of "dragging a toddler into [a] house" in "nonsensical" and "irrational" behaviour that was at odds with any "maternal instinct to care and protect".

"[The defendant] is alleged to have done a number of things that raise the spectre of her child dying, being injured or taken out of her care," the prosecutor said.

Ms Lee added that there was an allegation of drug use, which undermined the woman's assertion that she was capable of complying with bail conditions.

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Legal Aid duty lawyer Jeremy Banwell argued there was nothing before the court to suggest the woman would not comply with bail conditions, noting she had no recorded criminal history.

Mr Banwell proposed conditions that included a ban on the woman having any contact with her toddler, and a requirement that she live at her parents' address.

Magistrate Robert Cook briefly stood the matter down so Ms Lee could make enquiries about whether or not the two-year-old had been removed into the care of Child and Youth Protection Services.

When no reply was immediately forthcoming, Mr Cook decided to refuse bail.

He said the case against the defendant included allegations she had repeatedly hit the child, who "screamed in pain", on August 2.

Then, last Friday, the "frustrated" woman allegedly slapped the girl's face when the two-year-old would not go to sleep on the floor of their home.

Mr Cook said the third alleged incident "of concern to the court" was said to have occurred last Saturday, when the defendant was accused of striking the toddler in the mouth during a nappy change.

The magistrate added that the woman had been reported to Child and Youth Protection Services on at least nine occasions, wondering when that agency would be "charged with doing something about it".

"[The woman] appears to keep the child in a locked room for up to six hours while vaping in that closed environment," Mr Cook said.

The magistrate was ultimately unsure what bail conditions could be imposed to ameliorate the risk to the toddler when the alleged abuse seemed to have been going on for "a protracted period".

The defendant, who held her head in her hands as she was remanded in custody, is due back in court on September 13.

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