A teenager who murdered his mother as part of a delusional plan to form a paramilitary anti-communist army to restore Australia’s Christian values will spend at least 10 years behind bars.
However, Supreme Court Justice James Elliott has paused the imposition of the sentence while the parole board determines his request for the now 17-year-old to remain in youth detention into adulthood.
The woman was killed on April 5, 2023.Credit: Joe Armao
“It would clearly be in your interest to remain in youth justice for as long as possible,” he said.
Elliott described the killing of the defenceless 41-year-old, who had served dinner and ice-cream to her son and his friend earlier that night, as cold-blooded and shocking. She was struck in the head with a cricket bat and stabbed almost 100 times during the unprovoked attack in April 2023.
The court heard the teenager, then aged 15, and his 14-year-old schoolmate planned to form their own paramilitary anti-communist group to restore Australia’s Christian values and fulfil a prophecy they’d received from God.
The pair, who hatched their plan over more than 1200 messages to each other over several months, had tried to recruit other students and were in the grips of a shared delusional disorder when they killed the victim.
The victim’s son – who pleaded guilty to murder – believed they needed to kill his mother to take her car and carry out their plan, codenamed Operation Continuity. The teenagers had spoken about obtaining military gear and ration packs in preparation for taking over the Grampians and then the country.
“Not only was your plan grandiose, but it included very sinister objectives,” Elliott told the court.
The court heard police were initially called to the victim’s family home in Melbourne’s inner east about 11pm on April 5, 2023, after the older boy’s younger brother woke to his mother’s screams and ran to a nearby police station to raise the alarm.
“What are you doing? Stop, stop! You’re killing me!” the victim reportedly yelled.
The teens jumped into the victim’s SUV and drove to Melbourne’s southern suburbs before dumping the car and catching a train into regional Victoria, where they were arrested dressed in camouflage gear.
At the time, the boy told police that there were “a few very complicated reasons” why he had killed his mother.
Elliott said Operation Continuity might have been viewed as comical if it weren’t for the tragic and horrific killing of the teenager’s mother, who he described as an unreservedly generous and caring woman who went out of her way to look after her children.
“Your mother was in her early 40s when she died. She was in the prime of her life,” Elliott said. “Not only did she have a close connection with you and your brother, but she was in a loving relationship.”
Elliott said the teenager had been incredibly fortunate to be born into the loving family and the mother’s murder had a devastating and lasting impact on those around her.
He said the delusion disorder the teenager experienced at the time of the killing, a type of shared psychosis, reduced his moral culpability. He noted the 17-year-old had no prior convictions and had positively engaged with mental health services since his arrest, giving rise to optimism for rehabilitation.
“It is unlikely you will be afflicted by this disorder again,” he said.
The teenager will officially be sentenced to 15 years in prison with a non-parole period of 10 years at a hearing next week.
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