The day Rachel Galleghan’s 16-year-old son was beaten and abandoned to die on the floor in just his pants is a day she will never forget.
Richard Sione, who began the beating, and Kayla Dawson, who initiated the assault, were both given decades-long prison sentences in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday for the teen’s murder.
Galleghan claimed that losing Jason has left her with “pain, trauma, and heartbreak” and permanently altered her life.
In her victim impact statement, she added, “I would give anything to hear Jason’s voice, his laugh… and just being his mum.”
Dawson had brought Jason, whom she thought might have stolen her Apple AirPods, to her house, where he was attacked by Sione and then by some youngsters calling the older man “dad” or “uncle”.
Two days following the attack, the 16-year-old passed away from his wounds.
Dawson got a 20-year prison term with a 13-year non-parole period for her part in organising the attack on Jason.
Jason and Dawson were pals, the 16-year-old told the court, and she felt awful for Dawson after she became pregnant and lost all of her friends. Galleghan testified in court that “Jason helped Kayla during a difficult time in her life.”
“Kayla orchestrated the attack on Jason … she recorded the assault and laughed.”
Justice Robert Allan Hume took the 22-year-old’s difficult background and intellectual handicap into consideration while making his ruling.
“She lacked the capacity to reason as an ordinary person might … this lessens her moral culpability,” he stated.
Sione’s defence team made an effort to get Justice Hume to examine his difficult background, mental health problems, and past drug usage.
The judge concluded that Sione’s moral responsibility was undeniable, nevertheless.
“I am prepared to accept that there are some adverse events that occurred in Mr Sione’s life,” he stated.
“To what degree, I am not sure.” The 34-year-old received a sentence of 32 years with a 24-year non-parole period.
When the sentences were announced, Galleghan appeared disturbed and upset. She repeatedly left the courtroom as the graphic details of her son’s murder were described.
Galleghan begged the judge to give Sione and Dawson a life sentence in her remarks.
“I hate Kayla more than words can say.
Jason had faith in her “, she claimed.
“Sione must be punished … his lack of remorse shows how severely he must be punished for his crime.”
After some of the murder was captured on camera, eleven individuals, ages 13 to 29, were given charges.
A previous term of fifteen years in jail was given to a youngster for his involvement in the bashing.
