Adrian Attwater, Paul Maris sentenced today over Lynette Daley’s horrific beach death
It took just 32 minutes for a jury to convict the men who left young mother Lynette Daley to bleed to death on a beach after a violent and drunken sexual assault. Attorney-General Mark Speakman reveals why it took the DPP seven years, an inquest and a Daily Telegraph campaign to take it to court in the first place.
NSW
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THE man who left young mother Lynette Daley to bleed to death on a beach after a violent and drunken sexual assault has been jailed for 19 years with a non-parole period of 14 years 3 months.
Ms Daley’s friends and family applauded and cried in the Supreme Court at Coffs Harbour today as Adrian Attwater was jailed by Justice Elizabeth Fullerton.
His former friend Paul Maris was jailed for nine years with a minimum term of six years and nine months.
Family and friends wearing T-shirts saying “Justice for Lynette Daley” hugged each other outside court after the long fight to bring the two men to justice.
Justice Elizabeth Fullerton said the circumstances of Ms Daley’s manslaughter were “extremely seriousness, reflecting a very high level of moral culpability” and neither of the men had shown remorse or insight into the events.
A jury took just 32 minutes in September to convict Attwater, 47, and Maris, 43, of the aggravated sexual assault of Ms Daley, who was either unconscious or in a state of stupor and could not consent to sex, with a blood-alcohol level of 0.46.
Attwater was also convicted of manslaughter and Maris was also convicted of hiding evidence after burning Ms Daley’s bloody bra and the blood-soaked mattress from the back of his Toyota troop carrier during the drunken trip to Ten Mile Beach on Australia Day 2011.
The court has heard that Ms Daley’s life could have been saved if the men called an ambulance when she began to bleed after violent sex.
The maximum sentence for manslaughter is 25 years and the maximum sentence for the offence of aggravated sexual assault for which the two men were convicted is 20 years with a standard non-parole period of 10 years.
Justice Fullerton said she accepted “without reservation” that despite Ms Daley’s use of alcohol and her transient lifestyle before her death “she loved her children unconditionally and she maintained a close relationship with all her family, her children in particular”.
Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb dropped charges against Attwater and Maris laid by police in the months after her death.
Mr Babb again refused to charge the two men despite recommendations by State Coroner Michael Barnes following an inquest into Ms Daley’s death in 2014.
It was not until The Daily Telegraph revealed the injustice that an external review by independent counsel Philip Strickland SC led to charges which finally brought the men to justice.
PAIR HAD LONG HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, AVOs AND DRUG CRIMES
NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman has already asked Mr Babb to explain why he repeatedly refused to pursue charges.
He said the lawyer who recommended charges against Maris and Attwater be dropped in 2011 was the same lawyer who blocked fresh charges after the inquest in 2014.
“My thoughts are with Lynette Daley’s family,” Mr Speakman said.
“Since her tragic death they have suffered a long and painful journey that no family should have to endure. Ms Daley and her family deserved better and for that I am sorry.”
He said he had met with DPP Mr Babb to ask why there was a delay.
“I expressed to the director my concern that a decision not to prosecute following the inquest into Ms Daley’s death was made by the same person who had previously directed that there be no further proceedings against the offenders,” he said.
Mr Speakman said he had been told by the DPP it would not happen again.
“The director advises me that he has issued a direction to his office to ensure this never happens again,” he said.
Mr Babb later broke his silence on his role in delaying the prosecution of the two men.
“I sincerely regret my office’s involvement in the delay,” Mr Babb said in a statement this afternoon.
“Today I publicly apologise to Ms Daley’s family and the community for the delay.”
The court had been told that both Maris and Attwater had formed relationships since the brutal attack.
Attwater’s girlfriend, Mary Anne Stone, provided a reference for him to the court which described him as a “loving gentle soul” who mowed the lawns and did odd jobs for their disabled neighbours in Moranbah, northern Queensland, where he fled to escape the community outrage after details of their crimes were made public
Ms Daley’s stepfather Gordon Davis said he could not believe it as the judge read out the hefty sentences.
“I’m feeling overawed and happy,” Mr Davis said outside court.
He said he did not expect any remorse from the two men who he described as “bags of shit”.