Tyrone Thompson learns fate for ‘senseless’ murder of Mackenzie Anderson
The mum of a DV murder victim said the family is “outraged” and what they believe is a lenient sentence for the killer.
The mother of a young woman brutally stabbed to death in a domestic violence incident has called the sentence handed down to her killer an “insult to women globally” as she called for an urgent review.
Tyrone Thompson was on Friday jailed until at least 2038 in the NSW Supreme Court, after a judge rejected his claims of having no intention to kill his ex-partner Mackenzie Anderson.
Ms Anderson, 21, died at her Newcastle home on March 25, 2022 after being stabbed 78 times in a frenzied attack by her abusive former boyfriend Thompson.
After the sentence was passed, Ms Anderson’s mother ran out of the courtroom and collapsed.
She later composed herself to deliver a powerful message on the steps of Newcastle Court, saying the family were “outraged by today’s outcome”.
“While this may be thought of as a good outcome by the courts, we are disgusted that this sentence is what they think is the value of my daughter’s life is worth,” she said.
“(Thompson’s) sentence is an insult to women globally and I call for an urgent review and appeal of this sentence.
“Justice is not being served.”
Ms Acret railed against the dehumanisation of her daughter during the court process, in which, as is custom, murder victims are referred to as “the deceased”.
“I want people to remember that she was not just a statistic, her name was Mackenzie,” she said.
“She was a mother, a sister, a daughter and a friend and most of all she was a human being and her life mattered.”
In sentencing Thompson, 25, Justice Richard Weinstein said the impact of Ms Anderson’s death would be “last across lifetimes” for those who loved her.
“The death of the deceased is a tragedy for her friends and her family,” he said, adding it was also a deep loss for the community.
“We are less of a community because of the loss of the deceased.”
Justice Weinstein detailed Thompson’s long history of substance abuse and metal health issues during his two-hour judgment, which followed three days of sentence hearings this week.
He revealed the 25-year-old suffered from PTSD after experiencing abuse and being exposed to domestic violence as a child, which he described as a bitter “irony” in this case.
Thompson has also been diagnosed with a schizo-psychotic disorder and suffered from delusions while serving various prison stints.
A psychologist report stated Thompson once claimed the “Kardashians” controlled the government and that he believed former prime minister Scott Morrison talked to him through an ear pieced telling “him what to say”.
Despite writing in an apology letter that he “genuinely loved” Ms Anderson and “never meant to hurt her that night”, the court heard she lived in fear of dying at his hands.
Thompson, the court heard, had previously threatened to kill her and was jailed for assaulting and intimidating her during their relationship.
He was on parole for that sentence when he stabbed her to death as she tried to escape her Mayfield unit just two weeks after he was released from jail.
Justice Weinstein took Thompson’s guilty plea into account in sentencing him to 22 years and six months’ jail, with a non parole period of 15 years and six months.
Thompson had been present in court this week while Ms Anderson’s family and closest friends delivered heartbreaking victim impact statements.
Ms Acret said their family had been exposed to the “true evil in this world” and added that “Mackenzie did everything she could” but was failed by the system.
Thompson and Ms Anderson had reconnected in the days before her murder and spent much of her last day together at the unit.
The killer’s behaviour became increasingly erratic and he was asked to leave by a friend, before he stole the house keys and fled.
He later returned and stabbed Ms Anderson repeatedly after she tried to defend herself with a knife, the court has heard.
“We got into a heated argument … she (had) a f***ing knife … And then I’ve literally grabbed the knife, and I just f***ing stabbed, stabbed stabbed,” he claimed to police.
Thompson watched the sentence proceedings from prison via video link on Friday.
With time served, he will first be eligible for parole in March 2038.