A man and woman involved in the brutal assault and murder of a teenager in a western Sydney home have been jailed for decades.
Jason Galleghan died after being lured to a Doonside home and brutally attacked on August 4, 2021, in a crime that shocked Sydney.
Kayla Dawson and Richard Sione appeared in court in the New South Wales Supreme Court earlier this year after pleading not guilty to murdering the 16-year-old.
However, Judge Robert Allan Hulme found the pair guilty of murder, ruling that they were part of a joint criminal enterprise in which Jason was assaulted and left for dead.
On August 4, 2021, he was lured to a house in Doonside, in Sydney’s west, where he was attacked by a group of adults and minors, the court heard.
Dawson, a mother of one, accused Jason of stealing a pair of AirPods at the time and lured him to the house in “retaliation”, Judge Hulme said in his address to the court on Friday afternoon.
Jason took the train from Sydenham and when he arrived at the property he was taken into a bedroom where he was assaulted by Sione and several minors, while Dawson filmed the abuse.
The court found that most of the people in the house at the time were under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
Jason Galleghan (pictured) died after being lured to a Doonside home and brutally attacked on August 4, 2021, in a crime that shocked Sydney
Judge Hulme said it was “clear” that the intention was for Jason to be taken to the house and beaten up, citing text messages.
The court heard that Sione punched and kicked Jason while questioning him about the earphones.
Sione left after about three to five minutes, the court heard, but the abuse continued, this time by several minors.
During the attack, Jason was stripped to his underwear.
After the attack was over, Jason was left alone in the house. He was later taken to the hospital, where he died two days later.
“Jason was left on the bedroom floor while everyone left the house,” Judge Hulme said.
Judge Hulme called Dawson’s delay in calling an ambulance “reprehensible” as he was “helpless” and unable to breathe.
Video footage of the attack was found on the phones of Dawson and two of the minors.
Although she was not involved in the assault, she was heard laughing and saying she was sending the recording to ‘Johnno’.
During part of the recording, Jason was repeatedly asked to make comments about the postcode gang ’27’ and their rivals.
Dawson had argued that she was not guilty of murder because of her cognitive impairment, but Judge Hulme rejected that argument.
Judge Hulme took into account a victim impact statement read to the court on Friday from Jason’s mother (pictured), which described her “grief, pain and loss”.
Sione was found guilty of murder as Judge Hulme ruled that he was part of the joint criminal organisation that led to Jason’s death, as he was involved in the assault.
Judge Hulme took into account a victim impact statement read to the court on Friday by Jason’s mother, Rachel, which described her “grief, pain and loss”.
The court heard that both had been threatened while in prison because of the nature of their crime.
The court heard that Dawson blamed herself for Jason’s death, saying he wouldn’t have been killed if she hadn’t told people he had stolen her earphones.
Sione followed the sentencing on Friday via video link from prison, sitting on a chair with his head turned towards the ground.
Both Dawson and Sione faced life imprisonment.
Sione was sentenced to 32 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 24 years
Dawson was sentenced to 20 years in prison, 13 of which are without the possibility of parole.