Latia Henderson and Kayley Lee Ketley front Campbelltown District Court over Nisha Phillips kidnapping

Seeing a hand waving from the tail light of a car on a highway seems like a scene from a movie. But it was the act that led to the rescue of a woman trapped in the boot following a terrifying ordeal.

A young woman who passed out multiple times from blood loss while held hostage in a car unscrewed a tail light to flag down passing motorists.

Nisha Phillips, 24, was found in the boot of her own Holden Commodore on the Hume Highway at Berrima on February 3, 2021.

Pregnant teen Latia Henderson and Kayley Lee Ketley were arrested and it has since been revealed that the pair kidnapped the victim and were on their way to the Belanglo State Forest.

Earlier this year, Henderson and Ketley pleaded guilty to their roles in the kidnapping and in just a few months the pair will learn their fate.

Henderson, who was released on bail weeks before she gave birth to her son in last year, pleaded guilty to a charge of taking and driving a conveyance and take/detain in company with the intent to commit a serious indictable offence occasioning actual bodily harm.

Kayley Ketley pictured with Latia Henderson.

The 20-year-old also pleaded guilty to a related charge of driving without a licence. At Campbelltown District Court on Thursday, a sentence hearing date was set down for October 21.

Meanwhile, 26-year-old Ketley remains behind bars and pleaded guilty to taking and driving a conveyance without consent of the owner, ake/detain in company with serious indictable occasion, and reckless wounding.

Ketley pleaded guilty to a backup charge of possessing a prohibited drug. At Campbelltown District Court on Thursday, a sentence hearing date was set down for October 26.

Court documents and the agreed facts reveal the harrowing details of what happened between 10.30pm on February 2, 2021, and the following day when Ms Phillips was spotted desperately waving out of a tail light for help just six kilometres away from the exit to Belanglo.

Tension builds

The victim Nisha Phillips first met Kayley Lee Ketley in November 2020, who later introduced her to Latia Henderson and she would drive the pair around.

On February 2, Henderson, who was 12 weeks pregnant, texted a friend and asked her to smoke cannabis with her.

That night, court documents state Henderson and Ketley were being driven around by Ms Phillips.

In the early hours of February 3 at about 3.20am, Ms Phillips was driving the pair when she said to Ketley, “do we have a problem?”.

Ketley said: “Why can’t I just sit here. Why do you have to be straight on me all the time.”

Stabbing victim Nisha Phillips.

“Just chill, it’s all good. I just wanted to know cause it felt like there was tension between us,” Ms Phillips said.

Ketley then asked her to change the music and go through a McDonald’s, but Ms Phillips refused.

“Latia is pregnant and she needs to eat, that is so rude,” Ketley said.

But Ms Phillips refused because she was really tired and “needed to get off the road”.

Ketley then asked Henderson where the knife was before leaning forward and saying: “I will slit your throat without even blinking, with no effort at all.”

‘Today I am going to kill you’

The trio arrived at a Glenfield home and Ms Phillips relaxed on the couch as the others went upstairs before Ketley returned holding a knife.

“All you had to do was stop, all you had to do was stop,” Ketley said as she stabbed Ms Phillips in the knee and thigh.

Ms Phillips froze in fear as she felt pain, while according to the agreed facts Ketley threatened: “I am going to make you squeal like a pig. I just need to let it all out.“

Kayley Ketley.

“Last time this happened I got 4½ years and this time it’s not going to happen like that,” Ketley said according to the agreed facts. “Today I am going to kill you.”

Ms Phillips attempted to put pressure on her wounds while Ketley took her car keys and phone.

‘Get in the boot’

Henderson and Ketley left the house in Ms Phillips’ car at 5am and another person in the house tried to help Ms Phillips stem the bleeding.

The victim kept checking her heart rate as she thought she was going to bleed out and die.

When Ketley and Henderson returned over an hour later, Ketley is believed to have said it was a “shame” the victim was still alive.

“I guess we are going to have to like, drag this on now, hey, like I was hoping you would have just, you know, given up,” Ketley said according to the agreed facts.

Henderson and Ketley went back upstairs and then Ketley came back down by herself carrying a 30cm kitchen knife.

She said “get up” and Ms Phillips replied: ”I am not going to be able to get up, you stabbed me in the knee.”

Latia Henderson.

“I don’t care, I’ll stab you again so get up … do you want me to stab you again,” Ketley said.

The victim got up and Ketley stood behind the victim and pressed the knife into her back and told her to walk.

“Don’t make a scene or I will kill you right here,” she said.

Ketley popped the boot open and told Ms Phillips to get in, who said: “please man you don’t have to do this, like I’m not gonna dog on you”.

“This is what happens to people that want to find out why you don’t f**k with me,” Ketley said.

The victim got in and Ketley closed the boot.

‘We have to get rid of her now’

Ketley began to drive away about 7am as Ms Phillips lay terrified in the boot and used a shoelace as a makeshift tourniquet to try and control the bleeding.

She could hear Henderson try to calm Ketley down, but according to the agreed facts she remained enraged and said it was “too late now, we have to get rid of her”.

At one point, the pair stopped and opened the boot. Henderson took the knife and stabbed Ms Phillips on her arms before again driving away.

‘I don’t want to be part of this’

About 8.55am, the car pulled into an Ambarvale home where Ms Phillips heard someone say: “Who’s in the back? They better deserve this, I don’t want to be part of this unless they deserve it.”

Ketley replied: “F**k her, don’t worry about her, she’s fine I just want to have a smoke.”

When Henderson and Ketley went inside, the boot opened and Ms Phillips told a man that “I am pretty sure Ketley is going to kill me”.

But, Ketley demanded Ms Phillips get back into the boot before again driving off.

Journey to Belanglo State Forest

After stopping to smoke cannabis at Douglas Park about 10.20am, the pair drove south on the Hume Highway, with Henderson’s phone searching for directions to Belanglo State Forest.

During the drive they sang along to music and filmed videos and in several recordings, directions to Belanglo State Forest can be seen.

Kayley Ketley.

Despite passing out a few times, Ms Phillips managed to remove the car’s left tail light using her fingernail to unscrew a screw and push the tail light out.

She put her hand out of the hole, frantically waving at cars to try and get them to notice and call for help.

Her plan was successful and about 11.30am, two sets of motorists on the Hume Highway noticed the victim’s hand and contacted police.

Officer spots victim’s hand

The message was put out to emergency services and soon after a police officer driving an unmarked police car saw Ms Phillips’ hand and stopped the car near Berrima, about 6km from the Belanglo turn-off.

When questioned about who was in the boot, Henderson, who was then driving, claimed she didn’t know anyone else was in the car.

Another police officer, Special Constable Brendan Quinn, arrived and walked to the back of the car, leant towards the tail light and said “what’s your name love?” before he folded down the rear seats and helped the victim out.

Latia Henderson.

The first police officer asked “so why have you got a woman in the back of your car, the boot of your car” and both Henderson and Ketley appeared to panic.

Constable Quinn rendered first aid and asked Ms Phillips “what was the story, have they taken you hostage”, and she said “yes” while crying.

Henderson asked the police officer if Ms Phillips was okay.

Victim reveals what happened

While in the ambulance, Ms Phillips participated in a recorded interview with police and told the officer that an argument about music in the car led to the attack.

“I think she misinterpreted a question that I asked her … she (Ketley) got really mad over that question … started verbally attacking me … threatening me … big talk,” Ms Phillips told police.

“She started escalating really quick … like it was zero to 100 in like one-second flat.”

Ms Phillips said that she thought Henderson felt quite guilty when she realised how far it had gone.

Excuses to police

Ketley denied stabbing Ms Phillips and said she had no idea she was in the car. She told police that she was told by another woman to pick up the Commodore at an Ambarvale car park and drive it back to a hire location in Colo Vale.

In her police interview, Ketley also said her fingerprints would not be found on the knife.

In a police interview, Henderson made partial admissions to the offences, saying she knew Ms Phillips was in the car but did not know when she had been stabbed.

She also told police she wiped blood off the back of the car with a tea towel, saying it was an “iffy” situation.