Study materials and the blood of a child are pictured on a road leading to a primary school in Lingshan county, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region, September 26, 2014.
Study materials and the blood of a child are pictured on a road leading to a primary school in Lingshan county, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region, September 26, 2014. A man stabbed four primary school children to death on Friday in the southern Chinese region of Guangxi, state media said, the latest in a series of knife attacks that have unnerved the country. Reuters/Stringer

An inquest regarding an Australian father brutally killing his 11-year-old son revealed that the father had earlier threatened his son with a knife. Child protection officers and police did not go ahead with the case after learning that the son, not afraid of his dad, had loved him.

Luke Batty, the 11-year-old who had earlier been threatened by his father at a suburban cricket ground, was eventually killed by Greg Anderson on Feb 12, 2014. New details emerged about the murder, which took place after Batty had finished his cricket training at Tyabb, southeast of Melbourne. The Australian reported that the inquest revealed that Anderson had raised a cricket bat to knock Batty over the head. An 8-year-old eyewitness said that the father had then stabbed Batty repeatedly until he became motionless lying on the ground. Anderson told ambulance workers, who tried to approach Batty, that his son was "in heaven." He threatened the workers as well as police officers. The 54-year-old was eventually shot dead by officers when he tried stabbing them as well.

Anderson was charged for 11 criminal offences. Seven of those were related to family violence. The other four were unexecuted warrants for his arrest as he failed to answer and breached intervention orders. Anderson was allowed to his son only during his weekend football and cricket matches, according to the existing intervention order. Victorian coroner Ian Gray is going to examine if there could have been some ways to protect Batty. He will also find out if Batty's mother Rosie as well as the Department of Human Services officers should have responded to the situation differently.

According to Coroner Rachel Ellyard's counsel, it was in April 2013 when Batty first revealed that his father had threatened him. He told his mother that Anderson had threatened him when he was in a car with his father. Anderson apparently prayed and held up a knife. "This could be the one to end it all," he told his son. Batty's mother informed DHS about the incident. The case was referred to police. However, a child protection officer and another police officer closed the file after their interview with Batty had apparently revealed that he was not in danger. Batty reportedly told the officers that he did not feel threatened by his father. He said that he loved his father.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au