Family of Luke Sweetman delivers victim impact statements in front of killer Mathew Hawkins, demand significant jail term

For weeks, Luke Sweetman’s sister kept vigil over his failing body, listening to his organs collapse. Now the man who killed him has been forced to face the family’s pain.

Family members of a “caring” young Panorama man have called for a 50-year jail term for an “unhinged and volatile” father-of-three who took his life with a single punch to the head.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard 12 victim impact statements from 35-year-old Luke Sweetman’s family, detailing how the actions of a drug-fuelled Mathew Paul Hawkins “destroyed” their lives forever in 2024.

Hawkins, of Exeter, pleaded guilty to manslaughter after coward-punching Mr Sweetman following a night out at the Peninsula Hotel Motel, in Taperoo – where he was under the influence of cocaine, cannabis, alcohol and painkillers.

Laura and Luke Sweetman. Picture: Supplied.

Mr Sweetman’s sister Laura told the court her brother – whose death had left an “irreplaceable” void – was the “closest male figure” in her life.

“For three weeks we watched Luke lie there, lifeless, in an induced coma – head swollen, bruised face and his body deteriorating,” Ms Sweetman said. “It felt like an unbearable nightmare.

“It was traumatising watching and listening to his organs collapse, knowing that he was fading with every struggling inhale. But, no matter how hard it was to watch, it was my last chance to tell him how much he meant to me, to talk to him, to hold him … and to hopefully show him how he was so loved.

“Beside him, with my head on his shoulder, he took his last breath – leaving behind a silence that would echo for the rest of my life.

Marion Sweetman (front) speaking to media outside court with her daughter Laura. Picture: Dean Martin

“He has lost his life due to a senseless act of violence ... no explanation could ever make sense of this unhinged and volatile man.”

Ms Sweetman told the court she had been fired from her full-time job in Sydney after requesting a week of bereavement leave and was “now on the brink of homelessness”.

Outside court, Mr Sweetman’s mother Marion said she hoped Hawkins received a 50-year jail term.

Emergency services were called to the hotel on August 10 last year following an altercation the court heard was sparked after Hawkins offered to share his cocaine with Mr Sweetman.

Emergency services at the scene. Picture: 7NEWS

Mr Sweetman was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Picture: 7NEWS

Defence counsel for Hawkins told the court there was a disagreement on what was a “fair trade”, which then resulted in him stealing Mr Sweetman’s prescription cannabis pen.

CCTV footage taken on the night of the attack shows Hawkins being restrained by his dad outside the pub, before “breaking away” and delivering the fatal blow to Mr Sweetman who was “standing around minding his own business”.

Hawkins then “fled” the scene.

Mr Sweetman was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his life-threatening injuries on August 23.

Defence counsel on Tuesday submitted Hawkins had been dragged into a cell and attacked while in custody on remand by a group of men who told him he “wouldn’t make it out alive”. He has been in protective custody ever since.

It was further submitted he “grapples very much with thoughts of the man that he killed” and, in his own words, he was “deeply sorry” for taking something “so special” from the Sweetman family.

Hawkins will learn his fate later this month when he returns to court for sentencing.

Originally published as Family of Luke Sweetman delivers victim impact statements in front of killer Mathew Hawkins, demand significant jail term