Family of slain Victorian woman Sally Brooks get $800,000 compensation payout
IT was a murder fuelled by “selfishness, egotism and a controlling nature” — and seven years later, it has had a stunning sequel in court.
IT was a murder fuelled by “selfishness, egotism and a controlling nature”.
The killing of mother-of-three Sally Brooks in 2011 by her ex-husband Robert Arthur Meade was also callous and calculated, Supreme Court Justice Mark Weinberg told 52-year-old Meade at his sentencing hearing in December 2013.
Ms Brooks, 48, was bludgeoned to death with a blunt instrument after she arrived at her Donvale, Victoria home in July 2011 after dropping her three children at school. Meade was waiting for her.
Ms Brooks died in hospital 10 days after the attack, which came just a week before she had been due to move to the United Kingdom with her three children to start a new life.
Her death had a devastating effect on her children, the court heard — and almost seven years later they, and Ms Brooks’ twin sister, have been awarded an $800,000 payout.
The slain mum’s identical twin Alison Brooks and the three children applied for compensation in the Victorian Supreme Court, and were not challenged by Meade. Victims in Victoria are permitted to seek compensation or financial assistance through the courts.
Once a partner in a law firm, Ms Brooks now works part-time as a solicitor in Nottingham while raising her 16-year-old niece and nephews aged 15 and 13. Ms Brooks sought compensation for the costs of caring for the three children, as well as compensation for each child’s pain and suffering.
Her grief was so deep she found it distressing even looking into a mirror — because every time she does, she sees the face of her murdered sister, the court was previously told.
She was awarded $574,208 in compensation, while each child was awarded $75,624.
Justice Weinberg told Meade he was satisfied beyond doubt the murder was a planned killing by a man motivated by pure hatred.
“It is impossible to overstate the gravity of what you did,” Justice Weinberg told Meade.
“You deliberately, with premeditation and without a shadow of justification, took the life of your former wife — the mother of your children and a woman who, by all accounts, was greatly loved and admired.
“Your conduct was brutal, callous and cowardly.”
In sentencing Meade in 2013 to 23 years’ jail, with a 19-year minimum term, Justice Weinberg said Meade destroyed many lives through his own “selfishness, egotism and controlling nature”.
He said Meade “foolishly” tried to cover his tracks in the months after the murder. But the motivation was clear.
“There was only one explanation for your conduct on the day in question - that was that you intended to kill Sally, and thereby prevent the children from being taken from you,” Justice Weinberg said.
— with AAP