Jason Galleghan: Teenager jailed for 15 years after leading boy to being bashed to death

A teenager who helped lure a boy to a suburban home and took part in the protracted attack that left him dead has been jailed for at least 10 years.

He was among a group of teenagers and adults who assaulted 16-year-old Jason Galleghan in Doonside in western Sydney on August 4, 2021.

Jason died in hospital two days later.

The teen sentenced by the NSW High Court on Wednesday pleaded guilty to murder but cannot be named for legal reasons as he was just 14 at the time and several others are still facing trial.

He helped pick Jason up from a train station, punched him 52 times in less than two minutes, kicked him in the head, and later stomped on his chest in a spare room of a nearby house.

It was captured in videos that were later posted online.

The teen had posted on social media hours before the attack that he was “bashing someone today, lmao”.

The attack lasted more than half an hour, but only about seven minutes were recorded and available for court.

One shot showed the teen saying, “Oi, stop… look at him.”

It was indicated that he realized the attack had gone too far, which proved controversial.

Acting NSW Supreme Court Justice Robert Hulme viewed the footage repeatedly.

“I’m not convinced it expresses any concern, or that he was trying to convince any of them to stop the attack,” he said Wednesday.

Immediately before making the comment, the teen was heard directing others in the attack, the judge said.

The teen told a psychologist he felt rejected by his father, who left him in the care of an alcoholic mother.

By the time the threat of her children ending up in state care became very real, her son’s behavior had become “increasingly uncontrollable” and he had also begun to abuse alcohol and other drugs.

The teen, who pleaded guilty to murder, said on social media hours before the attack that he was “bashing someone today, lmao.” Jason Galleghan is pictured

The attack was triggered by an ‘unsubstantiated and trivial allegation’ that Jason stole a pair of Apple AirPods

He got involved in fights and brought guns to school before he stopped attending school altogether. He found confidence and identity through the gang association, and said he felt pressured to contribute to the attack.

The judge said Jason was targeted because of “an unsubstantiated and trivial allegation that (he) may have grabbed a pair of headphones” and that the teenager was “as eager as anyone else” in the attack.

Convinced that the teenager was genuinely remorseful, he was sentenced to at least ten years in prison with a total sentence of fifteen years and six months.

Arrested a day after the attack, the teen will serve his sentence in juvenile detention until he turns 21 and will be eligible for parole in August 2031, when he turns 24.

Judge Hulme said Jason’s mother had described the most horrific experience of losing her child in a victim impact statement, describing “with considerable courage” the impact on his family and friends.

The judge complained that there is nothing the criminal courts can do to resolve this.