Mother of Celeste Manno questions court over alleged killer’s no-show

A grieving mother has questioned why her daughter’s alleged killer was allowed to refuse to front court for his latest hearing.

Aggie Di Mauro with her daughter Celeste Manno. Picture: Supplied

The mother of a young woman allegedly killed in her bedroom by a stalker has called out a magistrate for allowing her daughter’s accused murderer to “cowardly’ refuse to appear in court.

Luay Sako, 35, was due to front a virtual hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with murdering Celeste Manno, 23, at her Mernda home on November 16 last year.

But when the matter was called, a prison officer appeared on the video link saying Mr Sako had refused to leave his cell to attend the hearing.

Magistrate Donna Bakos was content to proceed in his absence as his lawyer, Sam Norton, was appearing on his behalf.

The move spurred Ms Manno’s grief-stricken mother, Aggie Di Mauro, who had also logged in to watch the hearing remotely, to interrupt and ask for an explanation.

Celeste Manno was murdered allegedly by her stalker while sleeping in her bedroom in November 2020.

She told Ms Bakos that it was her understanding that all accused must appear.

“You can see how it’s quite a cowardly act for him to not attend his own hearing,” Ms Di Mauro added.

Ms Bakos explained a charged person doesn’t “usually have a choice whether they can appear in court” but given the case was an application for an adjournment, she did not want to hold up other proceedings.

“You are correct in that they don’t have a choice,” Ms Bakos said.

“I’ve made the decision today, as it’s an adjournment case.

“I don’t think it is in anybody’s interest to have him dragged in cuffs into the room for an adjournment.”

Luay Sako is accused of murdering Celeste Manno.

Ms Di Mauro questioned whether this was because it was being heard online due to Covid restrictions, pointing out he would have been made to appear if it was an in-person hearing.

But Ms Bakos said, even some accused refuse to appear in a live courtroom “from time to time”.

She said she needed to make an assessment whether to delay the court in order to get prison officers to bring an accused in, or allow their lawyers to act on their behalf.

Mr Norton had requested an eight-week adjournment in the case to allow for the return of “assessments and reports”.

No further details were revealed in court as to the type of documents they were waiting on, or what was causing the delays.

Mr Sako had allegedly become obsessed with Ms Manno while they were both working at a Serco call centre, bombarding her with hundreds of messages on social media.

The court heard she had gone to police and expressed her concerns and an intervention order was put in place to stop him from contacting her.

But it did not stop him from allegedly smashing his way into her bedroom and stabbing her to death as she slept.

His case will return to court on September 20.

“It is the court’s expectation that it will progress on that date,” Ms Bakos said.