Kayla Dawson and Richard Sione plead not guilty to murdering Jason Galleghan

A court has heard a crying woman accused of participating in the brutal bashing murder of teen Jason Galleghan at her western Sydney home thought he had stolen her AirPods.

The trial of two adults charged over the bashing murder of teen Jason Galleghan is now underway.

A young woman accused of participating in the brutal bashing murder of a teen she suspected had stolen her AirPods allegedly said “I set him up” as police listened in.

Kayla Dawson and Richard Sione have both pleaded not guilty to their alleged roles in the bashing murder of 16-year-old Jason Galleghan at a Doonside house on August 8, 2021.

The pair are charged over their alleged involvement alongside a group of other adults and juveniles in a sustained assault which left Jason with fatal injuries.

Their trial in the NSW Supreme Court before Acting Justice Robert Hulme commenced on Monday.

Crown Prosecutor Phil Hogan told the court the assault took place at Dawson’s address, where many of those involved in the incident would stay from time to time.

“(The day before Jason’s death) Kayla Dawson told those present at the house that Jason Galleghan had stolen her AirPods and that he scared her – she was upset and crying,” Mr Hogan said.

“Richard Sione was present during that topic of conversation (and) said ‘bring him over and we’ll talk to him’.”

Kayla Dawson.

The court heard Sione, 32, and his then-partner Stacey Pale – due to being older than those who resided itinerantly at the address – were often referred to as Mum and Dad.

Mr Hogan said there would be evidence of discussions about “stomping” Jason and an intention to “completely f--k him up”.

“(One female accused in the matter) sent a message saying ‘if youse f--k him up without me I’ll kill youse all mum’s soul’,” Mr Hogan said.

The Crown alleges that as soon as Jason arrived at Dawson’s home, Sione accused Jason of stealing from Dawson and said “don’t f--k with my family” before telling Jason to take off his clothes and initiating a savage assault.

“(The Crown alleges) Sione kicked Jason in the face and stomped on his face and head,” Mr Hogan said.

“The assault continued from shortly after Jason arrived at the house around 4.05pm to when Sione left the house around 4.20pm.”

Stacey Pale. Picture: Nikki Short

Mr Hogan said he expected one male witness to give evidence he intervened and threw Sione off, before Sione left the house and other younger people continued to bash Jason as Dawson observed.

When concerned neighbours inquired about the screaming and loud noises coming from the address, Pale and Dawson are alleged to have described it as a “family dispute”.

“(Another witness) will give evidence that Sione said something like ‘I just bashed this boy, I had to take off before cops came, I left all the young ones around there to finish him off’,” Mr Hogan said.

“There will be evidence, while (those allegedly involved) were at a second Doonside address, that they watched videos of the assault that had been recorded and at least one of those recordings was uploaded to Instagram.”

Jason Galleghan.

Mr Hogan said the Crown would allege Dawson told one of the juveniles involved around 5.03pm that Jason was not breathing and did not have a pulse.

Nobody called triple-0 until 5.42pm, and an ambulance arrived at 5.44pm.

“Dawson pointed towards the bedroom and said ‘he’s in there’,” Mr Hogan said.

“No attempts had been made to help the deceased.”

Paramedics were able to restart Jason’s heart at the scene after commencing CPR, but he ultimately died of his injuries on August 6.

The court heard Dawson had once described Jason as her “best friend” and had initially said “two Africans” chased Jason into her address and bashed him before conceding this was not true.

Mr Hogan said that in a conversation recorded on a police listening device, Dawson allegedly told a female associate she had “set him up because she thought he had stolen her AirPods”.

The trial continues.