Albany mother Michelle Gough accused of conspiring to kill daughter with GP Dr Pieter Austin makes bail bid

A mother accused of conspiring with an Albany doctor to try to kill her severely disabled young daughter will apply to be released from prison on bail. Michelle Yvonne Gough, 40, and Dr Pieter Austin, 47, both appeared in the Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on Wednesday after they were charged with attempting to kill the six-year-old girl a fortnight ago. Police allege the mother asked the GP to supply drugs, understood to be insulin, in an attempt to end the little girl’s life and that the GP was aware of the “intended use of the drug”. Ms Gough appeared in court by video-link from Melaeuca Women’s Prison where her lawyer Finola Barr revealed her client would be making an application for bail in two week’s time. Dr Austin, who appeared in court by video-link from Casuarina Prison, has not indicated whether he would also make an application. The pair were both remanded in custody, Ms Gough until her bail hearing in the Supreme Court on March 2, and Dr Austin until April 27. Police say two days after being prescribed the drug, the little girl’s health deteriorated and she was taken by a relative to a local medical facility, then to Albany Health Campus where she was stabilised. She was then flown to Perth by the Royal Flying Doctor Service and transferred to Perth Children’s Hospital. Child abuse squad detectives arrested Ms Gough on January 28 before also arresting the GP on February 2. The shocking allegations have rocked the Great Southern city. Having studied in South Africa and first registered to practice in WA in 2008, Dr Austin worked at the Denmark Medical Centre from 2010, before moving to Albany, specialising in paediatrics and family medicine. A GoFundMe account run by Ms Gough since 2016 reveals apparent desperate efforts to improve her daughter’s quality of life. The account paints a picture of a devoted mother who went to extraordinary lengths to help the youngest of her four children, who struggled to move and eat. She started the account when her daughter was 14 months old, with a goal of raising $20,000 for treatment. In her original post, Ms Gough said the girl had been “diagnosed with a neurological issue that affects her ability to organise her gross and fine movement patterns”. “(She) has been unable to learn to move her body voluntarily or effectively, which means she finds it difficult to eat, chew and swallow,” Ms Gough said in December 2016. She wanted to raise money to pay for masgutova neurosensorimotor reflex integration treatment.