Three men sentenced over death of Cian English

The three men who robbed and tortured a young man in “the prime of his life” before he died fleeing for his life have been sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

The three men who robbed and tortured a young man in “the prime of his life” before he died fleeing for his life have been sentenced to various terms of imprisonment for their “appalling” and “vile” conduct.

Cian English was just 19 when he was bashed, stabbed and pursued onto a Surfers Paradise balcony from which he fell to his tragic death in May 2020.

Earlier in the evening in his hotel room and theirs, Mr English was partying with

Jason Ryan Knowles, 25, Lachlan Paul Soper-Lagas, 21 and Hayden Paul Kratzmann, 23.

The two friend groups previously strangers met after checking into the same hotel.

As the night became early morning Kratzmann falsely accused Mr English and friends of stealing his drugs.

Cian English. Picture Supplied

The mood turned sinister and violent and two teenage girls, themselves now facing charges, recorded on their phones a montage of torture, abuse and ultimately death that would form the basis of the case against the defendants.

Chief Justice Helen Bowskill said a “particularly vile” element of the crime was the filming of it on social media.

“Your conduct was despicable, all the more so because of the apparent performative element to it, as the girls filmed their abhorrent Snapchat videos,” she said.

She said in a “revolting display of callousness” the videos were circulated by others, not the three defendants, on social media.

At about 2.40am Mr English made a dash for his escape just after being stabbed by Kratzmann who said “do you want to die”.

Mr English went to the balcony and in a bid to climb to his apartment a floor below he fell from the offender’s fourth floor balcony and died.

“That he would think that this was his only means of escape speaks to the fear that you had instilled in him,” Chief Justice Bowskill said.

The death hit like a bomb both in Brisbane and in Mr English’s native Ireland where extended family had to say their last goodbyes over an iPad due to Covid restrictions.

Various family members travelled to Australia to deliver harrowing victim impact statements in court and Chief Justice Bowskill told the defendants she hoped they “pierced your hearts and brought home to you the enormity of the consequences of your actions”

Chief Justice Bowskill sentenced Knowles and Kratzmann to 9.5 years prison with parole eligibility after six years, which will be May 23, 2026, with time already served. She did not declare the men serious violent offenders, which would have meant they had to serve at least 80 per cent of their sentences.

Soper-Lagas, whose criminal culpability was deemed to be lower than the others, was sentenced to eight years. He was ordered to serve three years and three months before being eligible for parole which will be March 2, 2026, with time served.

Hayden Kratzmann. Picture: Facebook

Lachlan Soper-Lagas. Picture: Facebook

Terrifying final moments before fatal fall

It was meant to be good time out with mates but a nightmare encounter with sinister thugs led to torture armed robbery and a teenager plunging to his death as he fled his tormentors on the Gold Coast.

Cian English’s first encounter with Jason Ryan Knowles, 25, Lachlan Paul Soper-Lagas, 21 and Hayden Paul Kratzmann, 23, was amicable.

Two groups checked into different rooms at a hotel in Surfers Paradise on May 22, 2020, Brisbane’s Supreme Court heard on Thursday.

Mr English, 19 and friends were on the third floor directly below a room occupied by the killers.

As the evening progressed the two groups began conversing from their balconies and Kratzmann offered to supply them drugs and invited them up.

The two groups continued interacting amiable until just before 2am when Kratzmann accused Mr English and a mate of stealing his drugs.

Jason Knowles. Picture: Facebook

The two protested that they were innocent, which it would turn out they were, but for the next hour they were assaulted, intimidated, taunted, threatened with a knife and Mr English was stabbed.

The acts were all filmed by two juvenile females whose charges are still before the court.

The footage captures Kratzmann striking Mr English, turning to the camera stating ”this is what happens when you steal from me”.

Either Knowles or Soper-Lagas said “do you want to get f**king holes poked in you”.

At some point Mr English was stabbed most likely by Kratzmann although he denies this, the court heard.

Kratzmann also said to Mr English “do you want to die”.

Around this time Mr English broke free of Kratzmann, ran to the balcony and fell to his death most likely in an attempt to climb down to his unit below.

“The escalating violence and continuing demands from the victims for their property until they virtually had nothing left to give was real and gave rise to a genuine fear reasonably arising in Mr English of further harm to himself if he did not take action to flee the situation,” crown prosecutor Caroline Marco said.

The three defendants were charged with murder but their pleas on Thursday to manslaughter were accepted by the prosecution, and the murder charges were withdrawn.

The trio also pleaded guilty to two counts each of torture and armed robbery in company and one count of stealing.

MOTHER’S PAIN: ‘CAN’T BEAR TO THINK HOW HE DIED’

A mother’s raw pain echoed through the court as Siobhan English read her victim impact statement in front of her son’s killers.

“I still can’t even bear to think about how he died and I struggle to contemplate what he endured in his last moments … thinking about it destroys a little bit of me every time and will haunt me for the rest of my life.,” she said.

Cian English. Picture: Supplied

Ms English spoke of the “harrowing pain and haunting nightmares” from seeing her son’s “broken body covered in bandages”.

“All I wanted to do in that moment was wrap him up in a blanket, warm his cold body and hold him and keep him safe from harm,” she said.

Dylan English said a “piece of me died” the morning he learnt of his younger brother’s death.

“Those criminals who robbed, assaulted, tortured or killed my brother deserve more than what will be given to them today,” he said.

The English family moved to Australia from Ireland about five years before his death.

Extended family members forced to say goodbye to Mr English on a video call owing to covid restrictions preventing travel to his funeral made the trip across for his killers’ sentencing.

Uncle Barry English remembered a quick, witty and warm character which infected those around him.

“He oozed charisma and made everyone around him smile,” he said.

He spoke of his fear that his children could one day be exposed to the videos made by the two girls of Mr English having “his basic civil liberties” stripped from him.

“(It’s) constantly a source of torment to all of us and will be forever,” he said.

The court heard that as Mr English lay critically injured the defendants acted with self interest “by packing up their belongings and leaving the unit”.

Half an hour after the incident Kratzmann called triple-0 and said he had seen a person lying on the ground outside an apartment as rode his bike.

The defendants drove around the Gold Coast and were seen wearing items of clothing or with property belonging to the victims. Kratzmann posted photos of himself and Knowles with that property on Instagram “like it was a badge of accomplishment”.

Later that morning at Kingston train station Kratzmann “drew a crude piece of graffiti about the incident involving the deceased on a pole”.

Ms Marco asked the court sentence Kratzmann and Knowles to not less than 11 years and Soper-Lagas, who had no prior criminal history, to nine years.

Kratzmann’s barrister Tim Ryan said his client had expressed a wish “go back in time and fix his mistakes”.

The sentencing before Chief Justice Helen Bowskill continues Friday.