The three men who callously tortured a man before he fell from a fourth-floor balcony during a drug party will each spend less than 10 years behind bars, a court has been told.
Cian John English, 19, died after falling from the fourth floor of the View Pacific resort in Surfers Paradise on May 23, 2020.
What should have been a fun evening with friends quickly turned into a tragedy when Mr. English and a friend were tortured and abused for 27 minutes in the fourth-floor hotel room directly above theirs.
Cian English died after falling from a balcony on the Gold Coast in May 2020. Photo supplied
Engels was only 19 years old. His grieving family says: ‘We will never see him get married, never see his children who could have been anything’
Lachlan Paul Soper-Lagas, 21, Jason Ryan Knowles, 25, and Hayden Paul Kratzmann, 23, have each pleaded guilty to Mr English’s manslaughter.
The court was told that Mr English and his friend were invited to his room by Kratzmann after the two groups started chatting as they each sat on their respective balconies.
The men then continued to take a cocktail of prescription and non-prescription medications while partying.
Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco said things changed just before 2am when Kratzmann began accusing Mr English and his friend of stealing the drugs.
Mr English and his friend, who had protested their innocence, were then attacked, intimidated, taunted and threatened with a knife over the next hour.
Mr English fell from the fourth floor balcony of The View Pacific Resort in Surfers Paradise
The court was told Mr English was also stabbed in the arm, although it is not clear by whom.
The court was told it was an acquaintance of Kratzmann who was later charged with possession of the drugs.
Some of the abuse was captured on video by two young women whose charges are still pending in court.
Ms Marco said the three men spent time ‘inflicting pain and suffering’ on Mr English and his friend.
In an attempt to flee the attacks, Mr English ran to the balcony after realizing he was unlikely to reach the front door safely, the court was told.
Ms Marco said: ‘Most likely he tried to climb to the floor where his unit was located and fell.’
“They all threatened and intimidated Mr English (and his friend) and encouraged the others,” Ms Marco said.
‘This forced him to try to escape by climbing over the balcony and falling to his death.’
Cian English had checked into the Surfers Paradise hotel hours before his death.
The court was told the three men had failed to help Mr English. Instead, they packed their bags and left the apartment 16 minutes after he fell.
Kratzmann later placed a triple-0 call and told the operator he saw someone on the ground outside the apartment while he was riding his bike, but lied about his name and phone number.
Mr English was pronounced dead by paramedics at 3.53am.
The court was told the trio stole another man’s shoes, belt, wallet, bag and Apple AirPods.
They were then later seen wearing items of clothing or carrying the victims’ belongings as photos were posted on social media.
Kratzmann also later drew “a crude piece of graffiti about the incident involving the deceased” on a post at a train station before his arrest.
Ms. Marco argued that Kratzmann and Knowles should be sentenced to 11 years in prison, while Soper-Lagas, who had no criminal record, should serve nine years in prison.
Kratzmann’s attorney Tim Ryan said his client had expressed a desire to “go back in time and fix his mistakes.”
Knowles’ lawyer Damian Walsh said the 25-year-old had written to the court about the consequences “he now has to live with” after that fatal night.
Mr Walsh said his client will never ‘forgive himself’ and expressed his deep regret despite the prosecutor’s objections.
The court was told that Ms Marco had objected to Knowles’ reference to the night as an ‘accident’ in his letter to the court.
However, Mr Walsh explained that his client had poor literacy and was remorseful.
The court was also told that 32 character references had been submitted on behalf of Soper-Lagas, in which his parents detailed how the 21-year-old had donated his time to help neighbors whose homes were flooded in 2022 while he was on bail.
Soper-Lagas’ lawyer Jack Kennedy said the last thing his client thought about when he fell asleep was Mr. English’s face, and it is “the first thing he thinks about when he wakes up in the morning.
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“He has shown real and tangible steps towards rehabilitation and has not used drugs since (he was on bail),” Mr Kennedy said.
The Crown accepted the three men’s guilty pleas and withdrew the original murder charge.
Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco accepted the guilty plea to manslaughter
The three men also pleaded guilty on Thursday to two counts of armed robbery in company, two counts of torture and one count of theft.
Kratzmann also pleaded guilty to a separate offense of entering a premises with intent to commit a trespass.
Chief Justice Helen Bowskill sentenced Kratzmann and Knowles to nine years and six months in prison.
Both men will be eligible for parole after six years of service.
Soper-Lagas was sentenced to eight years in prison, with a parole eligibility date after serving three years and three months.
Judge Bowskill said she found Soper-Lagas had not physically harmed Mr English and his friend, but had threatened them while armed with a knife and encouraged his friends to continue their attack on the pair.
She said Soper-Lagas “had been emotionally immature, which could explain why you hung out with” Kratzmann and Knowles.
She said the three men had a “pack mentality” in the way they behaved that fateful night.
Supporters of Soper-Lagas, Knowles and Kratzmann outside the court
Judge Bowskill said while Kratzmann was the “instigator”, the two other men were responsible for their part in the couple’s physical and mental abuse.
She said she discovered that while Kratzmann was the one responsible for stabbing Mr English in the arm, the 19-year-old felt he had no choice but to flee the trio by trying to climb over the balcony.
“I am confident now, almost three and a half years later, that you all bitterly regret your actions and have now taken responsibility by pleading guilty,” Judge Bowskill said.
“I can only hope that it has pierced your heart and brought home the enormity of your actions so that you can use them in the future.”
She said the behavior of the three men was ‘despicable’ and insensitive towards Mr English and his friend.
“(Mr English was) a young man deeply loved by his family and friends, who suffered unfathomable grief and pain as a result of his death, compounded by the terrible circumstances in which it occurred,” Judge Bowskol said.
‘Your conduct has also caused serious harm, particularly psychological harm, to a second young person.’
Knowles’ lawyer Andrew Bale said outside court that “it’s a tragedy on many levels.”