Children to be sentenced for Jason Galleghan’s fatal bashing

The mother of a teen viciously bashed to death by alleged associates of a western Sydney postcode gang has shared her relentless heartache as two children are to be sentenced for his death.

Jason Galleghan.

The mother of a teen viciously bashed to death by alleged associates of a western Sydney postcode gang has shared her grief as two children await sentencing for their roles in the horrific crime.

Jason Galleghan was just 16 when he was lured to a Doonside home on August 4, 2021 and savagely assaulted over allegations he had stolen Kayla Dawson’s AirPods.

He died of his grievous injuries in hospital two days later – with those involved alleged to be associates of a Doonside-based postcode gang, or youth street gang.

Two children were previously jailed for murder for their roles in continuing the assault on Jason.

On Monday Dawson, 19, was also found guilty of murder after she lured Jason to her home to be bashed, while co-accused Richard Sione was found guilty of murder over his role in initiating the assault.

Kayla Dawson and Richard Sione.

The two youngest children charged over Jason’s death then faced Justice Robert Hulme for sentence hearing.

The boys before Justice Hulme on Monday were both of shockingly tender age when they participated in the ultimately fatal bashing – with one pleading guilty to murder, and the other to manslaughter.

In a victim impact statement, Jason’s mother Rachel said her grief at her son’s death is harder to bear with every passing day.

“Every day since has been a struggle, full of agony and heartache,” Ms Galleghan said.

“It gets harder and harder knowing I must spend the rest of my life without my precious son, who would have been 19 now.”

Ms Galleghan spoke of the cruelty of constantly reliving her son’s death – and the memories that now haunt her.

“It’s been incredibly painful dealing with the fact I’ve lost my son to violence – he was the love of my life, and living without him has shattered me,” Ms Galleghan said.

“I desperately wish I could hear his voice, hug him, and just be his mum – the emptiness and sadness without him is overwhelming, and will stay with me forever.”

Jason Galleghan.

The bereft mother said part of her had died with her son in the horrific incident in 2021.

“I’ll never see him get married, have children or become a lifeguard, which he always talked about,” Ms Galleghan said.

“(The child offenders’) roles in my son’s death fill me with anger – they ignored Jason’s pleas for them to stop, and continued to join in on the most horrific acts.

“Age should never be an excuse to ignore pleas for mercy.”

In submissions, the court heard both children had suffered deprivation and disadvantage in their short lives to date.

The youngest child offender, who is to be sentenced for manslaughter, was described by his counsel Rose Khalilizadeh as having a particularly grievous upbringing prior to his role in Jason’s death.

“His background is one of the more tragic that the courts have seen,” Ms Khalilizadeh told Justice Hulme.

“This (period of time he has spent in custody on remand) is the most stability he has ever had in his life.”

Jason Galleghan.

The other child offender who is to be sentenced for murder was said to have been involved in gang-related activity since he was eight.

His counsel told Justice Hulme the child wanted to go to jail – that he “does not want to walk” – and was “wracked with guilt, sorrow and shame” at his role in Jason’s death.

Justice Hulme reserved his judgment and the children will be sentenced in the coming months.

Dawson and Sione will be sentenced on July 8, and Ms Galleghan made a brief statement outside court after the verdict was handed down.

“It’s been a very long journey, I’ve been waiting for this day for a very long time, and I’m very pleased with the outcome, and very thankful to everyone for their support,” Ms Galleghan said.