Francis John Wark jailed for cold case manslaughter of teenager Hayley Dodd

A judge has found that Francis Wark prayed on the ‘vulnerability’ of a teenage girl when he killed her. He has now been punished.

Cold case killer and convicted rapist Francis John Wark has been jailed for 18 years over the death of teenager Hayley Dodd – the harshest sentence ever handed down for manslaughter in Western Australia.

A jury acquitted Wark, 65, of murder but found him guilty of unlawfully killing the 17-year-old girl after a six-week retrial in the West Australian Supreme Court last month.

Following Wark’s first trial without a jury, Justice Lindy Jenkins found him guilty of murdering Hayley, who vanished in July 1999 while walking along a regional road near Badgingarra, northeast of Perth.

She had been planning to visit a boy she had a crush on at a farm near Moora.

Francis John Wark, also known as Frank Wark, killed Hayley Dodd near Badgingarra in 1999. Picture: Twitter/Channel 9

On Tuesday, Justice Stephen Hall said Hayley resisted Wark and a “violent struggle ensued”.

He said Hayley’s exact cause of death was not known and might never be known, but it occurred in the context of a sexual attack or to stop her escaping his attack.

“Her vulnerability was obvious,” Justice Hall said.

“Your motivation was to achieve your own sexual gratification, without regard to her wishes or wellbeing.

“Your clear intention was (then) to conceal the killing.”

Justice Hall said it was the strongest sentence ever handed down for manslaughter in Western Australia, describing the circumstances as among the “worst cases of manslaughter” in history.

The previous highest sentence was 12 years.

Justice Hall said Hayley’s death had a devastating impact on her family, which was magnified by having no body and no grave to grieve over.

“She was a young woman, no more than a girl, in fact,” he said.

“She had her whole life ahead of her.

“You robbed her of her life and prospects for her future.”

Hayley Dodd vanished in July 1999 while walking along a regional road near Badgingarra, northeast of Perth.

Hayley’s mother Margaret Dodd read her victim impact statement in court, saying her daughter’s only crime was naivety.

“The best we can hope for is now the open wound can start closing even though the scars will always remain,” she said.

Ms Dodd said only Wark could tell them where he disposed of Hayley’s body.

“I pray he does not continue to hold that secret,” she said.

Hayley’s sister Toni also read her victim impact statement in court, saying she suffered nightmares and sleeplessness.

“I hate that my parents are broken and I can’t fix it … it tears me apart,” she said.

“Francis Wark didn’t just take my sister away. He took my parents as well.”

She said her parenting style had also been affected and she found herself panicking more.

The visibly emotional sister added that the family could never have closure without Hayley’s remains and giving her a proper send-off.

Margaret Dodd, mother of Hayley Dodd – with daughter Toni and granddaughter Haylz – said the scars from losing Hayley would always remain. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Philip Gostelow

Prosecutor Amanda Forrester described Wark’s actions as heinous and said he was prolonging the family’s agony.

“She’s been denied of a full and happy life,” the Director of Public Prosecutions said.

Ms Forrester said Wark remained a danger to the community.

“He has demonstrated that the community needs to be protected from him,” she said.

Ms Forrester said the case at the time also highlighted that women were not “free to do as they wished” and were not free from the dangers of an attack.

An ankh earring that prosecutors said belonged to Hayley – although there was no DNA on it – was found in the seat cover of Wark’s ute during a cold case review in 2013.

It was a key piece of evidence in the trial, along with a strand of hair that the court was told matched Hayley’s DNA.

Justice Hall said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that both pieces of evidence were linked to Hayley.

Margaret Dodd has been seeking justice for more than two decades. Picture: Angie Raphael/NCA NewsWire

Wark was already serving time in a Queensland prison for repeatedly raping and beating a woman he gave a lift to in June 2007 when West Australian police charged him in 2015 with murdering Hayley.

But he has always maintained his innocence, claiming he had no time to commit the crime and had been in the nearby town of Moora at the time.

Justice Hall – and the jury – rejected Wark’s claim that he had an alibi.

Wark may be eligible for parole after serving 16 years behind bars, but Western Australia has “no body, no parole” laws.

Premier Mark McGowan has previously urged Wark to reveal where he dumped Hayley’s body.

Margaret Dodd with her family outside court on Tuesday. Picture: Angie Raphael/NCA NewsWire

Outside court, Ms Dodd said Wark did not have “a single reaction” as she read her victim impact statement in court, adding he had “a heart of stone”.

“We’ve had no life – it’s 22 years this year,” she said.

“My focus was ‘I’m talking to you, you are going to hear me, I want answers.’

“I doubt that he ever will give us some because of his reaction — he showed no insight or remorse whatsoever and I don’t think he ever will.”

Asked if she had a message for Wark, Ms Dodd said: “He knows what the message is – I want to know where Hayley is.”

Ms Dodd said she knew Wark could potentially appeal his conviction or sentence again, saying she would “have to find” the strength to go through the process again.

The great-grandmother, who is the same age as Wark, also said she hoped to outlive him.