The only victim here was four. And, NO, I don't care to get into a debate about daddy rights. Daddy's rights evaporated on the bridge.
Yes, in this case it seems the mom had dad pegged exactly right. He should have had supervised visitation with his children.
The point is that this man has never been identified as having any psychological problems in the past. Now, one day after a court hearing - and note that, I’m not talking about a decisions that might not go his way, the case had already been heard - this happens.
The court decision wasn’t based on his state of mind, because there was no apparent reason for anyone to be worried about that. It was based on other factors.
We don’t know all the details of this case, yet, but the Family Court in Australia is often extremely hostile towards fathers in custody hearings even when the father is clearly a good father, and even when the mother clearly isn’t the best mother. Unless a woman is actually beating the children, the chances of getting custody are remote. I’ve seen a lot of men brought low by unfair hearings.
Nothing can come close to excusing what this man has done but he may have been exposed to stresses that no person should have to deal with.
The bottom line is that we all want children to be safe. No, this shouldn’t have happened whatever the provocation, but pretending that there may not have been unfairness in the courts involved in what has happened isn’t going to make children safer.