Latia Henderson, Kayley Ketley face sentencing hearing for Nisha Phillips kidnapping
Two young women sang along to music as they drove along a major highway after they had kidnapped a woman, stabbed her and shoved her in the boot of her own car. Watch the videos they snapped en route to Belanglo State Forest.
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A woman had been stabbed and forced into the boot of her own car when she smashed the tail light from the inside and stuck her hand out of the moving car to frantically signal for help.
Nisha Phillips, 24, was found with knife stab wounds in the boot of her own Holden Commodore on the Hume Hwy at Berrima on February 3, 2021.
While she was bleeding out in the back of the car, the two women responsible for the distressing hours-long ordeal were joking and singing along to songs.
The video was shown as the pair of young women fronted court so a judge could decide their fate.
Pregnant teenager Latia Henderson and Kayley Lee Ketley pleaded guilty to their roles in kidnapping the victim after they were pulled over on their way to the Belanglo State Forest.
Henderson, who was released on bail weeks before she gave birth to her son last year, admitted 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.
The 20-year-old woman also pleaded guilty to unlicensed driving during the ordeal.
Ketley, 26, remains behind bars. She pleaded guilty to taking and driving a conveyance without consent of the owner, take/detain in company with serious indictable occasion, and reckless wounding.
Henderson gave evidence in court on Monday and told the court she was horrified at her behaviour.
“I am absolutely disgusted in myself,” she said. “I am extremely remorseful. She [the victim] didn’t deserve that.”
Henderson told the court of traumatic events in her upbringing which led her to use ice at 16 years of age.
She spoke of the tragedy of losing her younger sister and told the court there was the violence in her home life when her mother married a bikie.
“I want to be a better person. I want a good life for my son. I want to change,” Henderson told the court.
Under cross-examination, Henderson admitted she was still using drugs as recently the day before.
Henderson admitted despite being under house arrest, she sometimes left the home to consume drugs.
Joel Diggins, representing the Director of Public Prosecutions, asked Henderson if she stood by the claim that she went along with the offending because she was scared of Ketley.
However, he questioned this further and said video evidence showed her singing and joking along in the car, which was not the behaviour of someone under duress.
In sentencing submissions, defence barrister John Peluso spoke of how Henderson had to steal at a younger age to feed her siblings, and the violence she witnessed at home.
“There is remorse demonstrated by her evidence here today .. she is not pointing the finger to the co-accused. She takes all responsibility,” Mr Peluso said.
“She hasn't overcome [the drug issue], it is a problem that's accepted. There is hope, she just needs that help. Ultimately it has to come from her.”
Mr Peluso also asked the court to consider how a lengthy jail sentence could impact Henderson and her son’s relationship.
Ketley’s mother Sandra Mulawa gave evidence during court proceedings about her daughter’s troubled upbringing.
Ms Mulawa said she had seen a change in Ketley since she engaged with counselling and drugs services in custody.
“She is very remorseful. She wants to live a normal life with a new outlook,” she said.
A compilation of videos played in court show music blaring from the car speakers, and the girls singing along to music.
Mr Diggins revealed this was taking place while Ms Phillips was bleeding in the boot of the car.
In sentencing submissions, defence barrister Linda McSpedden referred to reports from medical professionals that reference Ketley’s “trauma” as a child and a diagnosis of substance abuse disorder and post-traumatic stress.
“Ms Ketley is a person who is suffering from very very serious mental health disorders,” she said. “[She started cannabis at age of 11 and went onto other drugs by the time she was 17 including ice.
“This is a young woman who does require intensive treatment .. it does appear she has slipped through the cracks on previous occasions.”
In submissions, Mr Diggins said the “degree of terror the victim endured was significant”.
“Violence was inflicted on the victim twice,” she said.
Mr Driggins said in regards to Ketley that “community protection is a relevant consideration”.
He also referenced Henderson’s continued drug use.
Judge Jennifer English adjourned the matter for sentence until Wednesday. Henderson’s bail was revoked and she was taken into custody.
Court documents 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 6km away from the exit to Belanglo State Forest.
Tension builds
The victim Nisha Phillips first met Kayley Lee Ketley in November 2020 and later introduced her to Latia Henderson. She would drive the pair around.
On February 2 the following year, Henderson, who was 12 weeks pregnant, texted a friend and asked her to smoke cannabis with her.
That night, court documents state Ms Phillips was driving around Henderson and Ketley.
About 3.20am on February 3, Ms Phillips 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?”
“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 drive-through, 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. 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.
The agreed facts detail how Ms Phillips froze in fear as she felt pain while Ketley threatened: “I am going to make you squeal like a pig. I just need to let it all out.”
“Last time this happened I got four-and-a-half years and this time it’s not going to happen like that,” Ketley said. “Today I am going to kill you.”
‘Get in the boot’
Henderson and Ketley left the house in Ms Phillips’ car at 5am while 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 more than 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,” the agreed facts stated Ketley had said.
Henderson and Ketley went back upstairs before Ketley returned 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.”
“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.
Ms Phillips 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 the agreed facts say 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’
At 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”.
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.
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 — two sets of motorists on the Hume Highway noticed the victim’s hand about 11.30am and contacted police.
Officer spots hand in tail-light
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 did not 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.
The first police officer asked “so why have you got a woman in 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’s account
While in the ambulance, Ms Phillips participated in a recorded interview with police and told the officer 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 she thought Henderson felt quite guilty when she realised how far it had gone.
Ketley denied stabbing Ms Phillips and said she had no idea the woman was in the car.
She told police another woman told her 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.
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