Jarrod Frank: Judge grants ‘mercy’ to man whose mum died in court

An Eppalock armed burglar who let out “harrowing cries of grief” when his mum died while giving evidence for him in court won’t serve any more jail time.

An armed burglar who let out “harrowing cries of grief” when his mum collapsed and died giving evidence in court earlier this year will not serve further jail time.

Jarrod Leonard Frank, 43, appeared briefly in the Bendigo County Court on Tuesday, where he had previously pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and assault.

Frank, of Eppalock, watched his mother, Kehry Frank, die on the floor of the Melbourne County Court earlier this year while she was giving evidence about his good character and his relationship with his nieces and nephews.

Frank was earlier this year acquitted of the stabbing murder of Scott Bury, 49, in Bendigo in 2018, after a disagreement about Nazi handguns escalated into a knife fight.

Jarrod Frank leaves the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne during his murder trial. Picture: Daniel Pockett

But while out on bail ahead of his murder trial, Frank relapsed into drug use and, in January 2020, kicked in the door of an “old associate”, Adam White, while armed with a kitchen knife, in an attempt to “bail him up” and steal drugs.

On Tuesday, Judge Gerard Mullaly said Frank was entitled to leniency after seeing his much-loved mother die before his own eyes.

“No one would think our system of justice would be indifferent to the impact of these events,” he said.

Jarrod Fran, pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary with an offensive weapon, common law assault and attempted theft. Picture: Facebook

Kehry Frank, 67, died after collapsing in the witness box. Picture: Vitality Yoga

Judge Mullaly had previously said Frank deserved to be sentenced mercifully because of the tragedy which had unfolded.

The court heard Frank blames himself for his mother’s death and now lives a reclusive life on the family property in central Victoria.

The court has previously heard the burglary, assault and attempted theft charges were partly a result of Frank’s relapse into drug use, which psychologists put down to the stress of his pending murder trial and to flashbacks of the 2018 “life or death” knife fight, in which he killed Mr Bury in self defence.

Judge Mullaly sentenced Frank to 382 days already served, plus a community corrections order.

Ms Frank, a Bendigo yoga teacher, has been remembered as a caring and inspiring member of the Bendigo community.

“You were a magnificent mother to us, but a mother to so many other people whose hearts are also breaking,” her children wrote in a death notice.