Hayden Kidd, 20, killed his grandmother thinking she was his ‘sadistic’ stepfather

Hayden Kidd, 20, lodged a mattock in the head of his grandmother Shirley Kidd believing she was his abusive stepfather — promoting a judge to observe it would be “hard to find” him guilty had the parent been killed given the level of historic abuse.

Hayden Kidd, 20, hacked to death in grandmother in a psychotic fit. Picture: Facebook

A judge has found it would have been “hard to find” guilty a psychotic young man who hacked his grandmother to death if he had of instead killed his abusive stepfather given the level of historic suffering.

Hayden Kidd, 20, lodged a mattock in the head of his grandmother Shirley Kidd – which they’d used to weed the garden of her Darley home a week earlier – in 2022 because he believed she was the stepfather who “tortured” him most his life.

Justice Michael Croucher said Kidd, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter during his Ballarat murder trial in April, may not have been found guilty had his victim actually been the stepfather that abused him, rather than the grandmother who offered an “oasis” from the torment.

During a pre-sentence hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, His Honour said it would be “hard to find he would be found guilty, notwithstanding the horror”.

Justice Croucher described as “jaw dropping” the evidence of Kidd’s mother at trial about the relationship between her son and her ex-partner, John Jahoo, who convinced her boy he was his biological father.

“I don’t think I’ve … heard evidence like that before … maybe read about it, but not actually heard it in a trial,” Justice Croucher said.

Kidd killed his grandmother thinking she was his abusive stepfather. Picture: Supplied

Kidd had been smoking marijuana on the night of 28 May 2022, before he snatched his little cousin, 7, from his grandmother’s bed, believing in a psychotic state that the boy was him as a child and their elderly nan, 67, was the abusive man.

Shirley, chasing the pair to the garage to protect the young boy, was found dead by her husband, lying in a pool of blood with the gardening tool lodged in her head.

Walking through the crime scene past his grandfather, a pale Kidd who could barely keep his eyes open was overheard saying, “I’m going to sleep well tonight” before lying down on his grandmother’s bed.

The court heard Kidd later told an ex-girlfriend “he must have had a blackout and done what he’d done”.

Shirley Kidd was killed in her Darley home. Picture: Facebook

Defence lawyer Tim Marsh said what Kidd’s mother recounted of her ex John Jahoo’s treatment of him as a child was “not only very cruel and deliberate physical abuse, but it seemed to have been done in such a way to maximise the psychological harm that could be inflicted on Hayden”.

“Hayden not only believed John Jahoo was his father, following on from that he believed the other three children were his three siblings,” Mr Marsh said.

“What … gives this torture its cruellest component was Hayden as a young child was left utterly bewildered, he had no idea why he was singled out for that treatment.

“Can you imagine the moment when the penny drops and he’s told (another man) is his father, that person who did those things to you was not in fact his father.”

Justice Croucher said the words “cruel” and “sadistic” had been used before to describe the stepfather’s actions and “it fits”.

Four family members gave victim impact statements detailing how they’d suffered from the loss of Shirley.

Her son Matthew Kidd said he “never got to prove to my mum I am the person she raised me to be” while her granddaughter, 14, said she “experiences hallucinations, mainly about Hayden and what he did” on the date and time each month that Shirley died.

Crown prosecutor David Glynn said “what happened here is the grandmother unlawfully and wrongfully lost her life … that’s what this hearing is about”.

“The law places a heavy premium on the sanctity of human life,” he said, noting her gruesome death occurred in the presence of a seven-year-old child.

“You could not imagine a more grave example of manslaughter.”

Justice Croucher said he was “undecided” whether Kidd should be sentenced by way of just jail time, or a combination of jail and a community corrections order, and sought a report about his suitability.

Kidd, now aged 22, is expected to be sentenced on August 1.