Lalor Park shooting: Father jailed after daughter, 3, killed in gun tragedy
A drug-addicted psychotic father has been jailed after his daughter was killed by a shotgun he had kept under his bed. However, the man could walk free as early as next year with a court hearing he would carry the guilt for the rest of his life.
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A drug-addicted psychotic father who kept a sawn-off loaded shotgun under his bed which killed his three-year-old daughter could walk free from jail next year.
The 46-year-old western Sydney man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced to five years’ jail in Parramatta District Court today over the manslaughter of his daughter at the family’s Lalor Park home in August 2017.
He faced up to 25 years behind bars but could be released next September after serving a non-parole period of three years and nine months.
The man entered a last-minute guilty plea to the offence which saw his young daughter tragically shot in the neck as she played with her siblings in their parent’s bedroom on the evening of August 27.
The girls’ mother discovered her bloodied, lifeless body on the bedroom floor after hearing a loud bang at about 11pm.
The father had been reversing out the driveway of the home with his brother when they heard a gunshot and screams ring out from the home.
The man told police in the days leading up the tragedy, he had obtained the shotgun and stashed it under the bed as he believed he needed to protect his family from threats made by criminal gangs.
However, in court today, Judge Stephen Hanley SC disputed the reality of the threats and agreed with the man’s psychiatrist that his behaviour was a manifestation of a drug-induced psychosis.
“There is no evidence to support his claims of being threatened and subjected to violent acts from these criminals,” Judge Hanley said.
“His family rejected the claims and for his need to have the firearm for his and his family’s protection.
“Certainly he was paranoid and psychotic and had a level of impaired judgment in the context of the use of illicit stimulants.”
During sentencing, the court heard the man was a “petty criminal with a methamphetamine addiction” who had spent years in and out of mental health institutions, largely sparked by the shooting death of his brother in 2001.
In the months leading up to the tragedy, the man had reconnected with his estranged wife and moved back into the family home, breaching an AVO, over fears for their safety.
However, in a police interview, his estranged wife dismissed his fears, stating that he had been dealing drugs of an evening and purchased the gun to protect them.
She also told police their children were aware of the gun and that it had not been hidden under the bed, but was instead left leaning against the bedroom wall.
Judge Hanley recalled the mother’s grief-stricken victim impact statement which was read to the court last week.
The 44-year-old told the court her life as a mother had ended since the tragedy and how she had lost custody of her three surviving children.
“Not only has a young child been killed, (the mother) has had her other children taken from her,” Judge Hanley said.
“He was aware of the presence of his children and the danger it presented to them.
“He was aware it was illegal to possess a firearm.
“He breached a significant duty of care he owed to his daughter and young children.”
Judge Hanley said the man’s guilt would be something he would carry with him for the rest of his life.
“In many ways, irrespective of the sentence I impose, he will carry the guilt of being responsible for his daughter’s death by criminal negligence for the rest of his life,” he said.
“In that sense, it is a life sentence.”
The court heard the man was on bail at the time of his daughter’s death for offences of participating in a criminal group and making a false statement to obtain money. He has since been convicted of both offences and served jail time.
The Judge noted the man’s history of disobedience while in jail and his continued used of illegal drugs behind bars.
The man had accumulated 10 breaches while in custody, related to the possession of prohibited goods, drugs and weapons and his intimidation of other inmates.
Judge Hanley said the man’s prospects of rehabilitation were limited given his mature age and did not find any special circumstances in sentencing.
He was jailed for five years and will be eligible for parole on September 27, 2021.