Former Bandido bikie Lionel Patea pleads guilty to bashing ex to death
TRIPLE 0 operators listened helplessly as a young mum was brutally killed after being rammed and run off the road by her ex.
TRIPLE 0 operators listened helplessly as young mum Tara Brown was brutally murdered at the side of the road by her bikie ex, a Brisbane Supreme Court has been told.
Today, former Bandido sergeant-at-arms Lionel Patea pleaded guilty to her murder. He was sentenced to life behind bars, but not before shocking details of Ms Brown’s final moments emerged.
Witnesses at first thought Patea was trying to rescue Ms Brown, 24, after he rammed her car and ran it off the road, helping him reach her before he started brutally bashing her.
They then tried to stop him but Patea, 25, fought them off.
Before being rammed, a terrified Ms Brown had called Triple 0 and could be heard screaming for help as she was chased and rammed by a pursuing Patea in a black Jeep on the Gold Coast on the morning of September 8, 2015.
The prosecution told the court she was screaming ‘he’s going to stab me’ on the recorded call before a crashing sound could be heard when Ms Brown’s car was struck from behind by Patea and plunged down an embankment.
Sixteen thumping sounds could be heard and then another 13 more as Patea smashed Ms Brown’s face with a 7.8kg fire hydrant metal plate, the court was told.
Moaning and ‘Lionel stop’ could be heard and Ms Brown kicked out her legs as she was beaten.
She was silent during the final two blows and was rushed to Gold Coast University Hospital where she had ‘non-survivable’ head injuries including multiple facial fractures and a laceration directly on her brain.
Patea had been due to stand trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court today over the public murder which shocked Australia almost two years ago.
Ms Brown had dropped the pair’s daughter Aria at childcare prior to being followed and killed by Patea.
After the attack, Patea stole a Gold Coast City Council ute that was parked nearby and drove off.
He turned himself into Coomera Police Station with several self-inflicted stab wounds and a collapsed lung and asked to be locked up, about an hour after the incident.
He was originally charged with attempted murder but the charges were upgraded to murder after Ms Brown died.
Patea also pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle in relation to the incidents that occurred on the morning of September 8, 2015.
Patea has been on remand at Brisbane’s Arthur Gorrie prison at Wacol since being charged with Ms Brown’s murder.
He has been kept in the prison’s detention centre for much of his stay due to long-running battles with prison guards and concerns over his safety in the jail.
In November last year, he pleaded guilty to a hot water attack on another prisoner and was sentenced to a further 18 months behind bars.
Originally published as Former Bandido bikie Lionel Patea pleads guilty to bashing ex to death