CASE: R v Struhs & Ors [2025] QSC 10

WARNING: disturbing content.

8-year-old Elizabeth Rose Struhs died on 7 Jan 2022 and her death was entirely preventable. Elizabeth was a diabetic and for two years, her condition had been managed and treated with insulin.

That all ended on 3 January 2022 when the decision was made to not give Elizabeth insulin ever again. That decision was made by her parents, with their support of their small home-based religious congregation.

This case will be covered in 5 parts.

In PART 1 you will be introduced to the members of The Saints, a conservative home-based religious group that rejected all medical treatment.

In PART 2 we will look at the events in July 2019 when young Elizabeth Struhs was diagnosed with diabetes. Kerrie, who was a devoted member of The Saints refused to seek medical care for her critically ill daughter.

In PART 3 we look at the first hearing in which Elizabeth's parents are charged with failure to provide their daughter with the necessaries of life, almost resulting in her death.

In PART 4 we will follow the changes in the Struhs family and the campaign of the collective members of The Saints to see that Elizabeth be taken off insulin, a campaign that would lead to Elizabeths death.

In PART 5, our final part, you will hear about the criminal trial of all 14 members of The Saints charged with manslaughter in relation to the unlawful death of Elizabeth Struhs.

NOTE: Voices of the parties have been produced by AI voice generation and are not the real voices of the parties.