Two women who filmed the assault and subsequent death of an Irish born teenager who fell from an apartment balcony during an armed robbery in Australia have been handed down a two-year long probation order with no recorded conviction.
Cian English (19), originally from Carlow town but living in Hawthorne, Brisbane, was fatally injured in a fall from a fourth floor balcony at the View Pacific resort in Surfers Paradise early on May 23rd, 2020. He had been spending a couple of days on the Gold Coast with a friend.
Jason Ryan Knowles (25), Hayden Paul Kratzmann (23) and Lachlan Paul Soper-Lagas (21) were charged with murder but agreed to a plea deal of manslaughter. Kratazmann and Knowles were jailed for nine-and-a-half years, while Soper-Lagas was sentenced to eight years.
READ MORE: 'Despicable' men who tortured Cian English before balcony fall will spend less than a decade behind bars
The Supreme Court in Brisbane, Queensland heard early on Tuesday (today) that the two women, who were aged 16 at the time of the attack filmed the attached of Cian and his friend as they were threatened with a knife, forced to undress, assaulted, robbed, degraded and tortured.
Australian media reports detail how the women who are now 19-year-olds and 20-years-old filmed up to 27-minutes of the torture and Brisbane Supreme Court was told one of the women filmed the moment she forced Mr English to clean his blood from the floor.
The other woman also filmed the scene from the balcony after Mr English fell to his death. The pair have spent less than a fortnight behind bars for their role in the death of the teenager.
Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco said both women knew Mr English was “critically injured on the ground” after he fell from the balcony but instead of calling police they packed their belongings and fled the unit. Ms Marco said the women later uploaded their videos to social media.
Justice Peter Applegarth said, to the two women who pleaded guilty to one count each of torture, and two counts each of armed robbery. “After these events, you weren't shocked to your senses. You posted videos to your social media accounts," Justice Peter Applegarth said at the sentencing.
“As terrible as (Mr English’s death) is, it’s the demeaning conduct and the complete disregard of the dignity of two human beings,” Justice Applegarth said.
The Justice continued: “As horrible your behaviour on there was and how despicable you acted after the events..... I am conscious of your remorse.”
Justice Applegarth said the two women’s decision to upload the videos to social media instead of calling emergency services was “completely reprehensible”.
The court heard both women had been banned from using their phones while on bail for these offences and have since remained abstinent from drug use.
Mr English’s mother, Siobhan English, told the court on Tuesday she continued to deal with the painful loss of her “forever hero”. “The harrowing pain and haunting nightmares of seeing my beautiful boy broken and covered in bandages is an image that will never leave my mind,” she said.
“Cian’s life was taken away without any care or compassion. I still can’t bear to think about how he died. It destroys me a little bit every time. He was only 19 years young and he was taken away in the most horrific circumstance.
“He wasn’t ill, it wasn’t an accident. Cian didn’t want to die, he had his whole life ahead of him. An entire generation has been altered forever.”
Judge Applegarth handed down a two-year probation order, and a conviction was not recorded.
The Supreme Court case involving the three men last September was told by Chief Justice Helen Bowskill it was “an absolutely tragic case” in which the “appalling criminal conduct” of the accused men led to the death of Mr English.
The judge said the guilty pleas meant each accused had taken responsibility for their actions and had saved the community and family members the cost and trauma of a trial.
She said none of the accused “showed any remorse at the time of the offending” and did little to help Mr English after he fell. She said Kratzmann later called the emergency services and provided “incomplete and unhelpful information”.
“It is fair to say that your other actions on that fateful morning negate anything positive that could be said about that,” she added.
Clothing and other items were stolen from Mr English and his friend and worn by the three accused, with social media posts showing an element of “bragging about your prizes”, she added.
The court heard Mr English and his friend began chatting with the three accused while on their balconies. The Australian men invited the pair up to their apartment where they were having a party.
Things were amicable initially, but Crown Prosecutor Caroline Marco said the atmosphere changed at 1.44am when Kratzmann wrongly accused Mr English and his friend of stealing their prescription and non-prescription drugs.
Mr English and his friend were subjected to physical and mental abuse by the three accused. Mr English was stabbed in the arm and his friend was hit on the head with the handle of a knife. Ms Marco said Mr English ran to the apartment balcony while attempting to escape, before falling to his death.
The Irish teenager was living with his parents Siobhan and Vinny and older brother Dylan. The family left Ireland 17 years ago, first to the Caribbean where Cian’s father worked for Digicel and then settled in Brisbane in 2011.
His ashes were laid to rest, in St Mary’s cemetery, Leighlinbridge, Co Carlow, last year.
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