Robert Frederick Bowden pleads guilty to killing elderly stranger on Hobart street

IN the quiet of a Hobart courtroom, a killer hung his head as the words of an 11-year-old girl expressed a family’s grief.

IN the quiet of a Hobart courtroom, a killer hung his head as the words of an 11-year-old girl expressed a family’s grief at the loss of their beloved grandmother in a senseless street attack.

“You took away from us too much — way too much,” said the girl’s victim impact statement.

The unprovoked and brutal killing of 71-year-old Carmel Nettlefold had devastated two generations of her family and her large circle of friends, the Supreme Court has heard.

“The offender has stolen Carmel from us ... now she is gone forever,” said her daughter-in-law.

Mrs Nettlefold was out for her regular Saturday morning walk and her death had devastated her family, the Supreme Court has heard.

Under the influence of Valium and alcohol, Robert Frederick Bowden shoved Mrs Nettlefold as she crossed New Town Road on October 4 last year.

She died from the injuries she sustained when her head hit the road.

Bowden, 50, of New Town, pleaded guilty to manslaughter yesterday.

Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Daryl Coates SC told the court Mrs Nettlefold was standing on a traffic island about 8.45am when she encountered Bowden, who had been seen by witnesses acting erratically and aggressively.

Without warning or provocation, Bowden raised his hands and shoved the woman backwards with both hands.

Mrs Nettlefold fell backward and hit her head on the road. She died in the Royal Hobart Hospital four days later in her sister’s arms from catastrophic head injuries.

A bystander photographed Bowden as he walked off.

Later that day he told a friend he had “f----d up” and said “it must have been the pills”.

“I’m going away for a long time,” he told the friend.

Police turned up 10 minutes later and arrested him.

Mr Coates said Bowden had many prior convictions for crimes of violence and had spent a significant period of his life in and out of prison.

He said the crime was aggravated by being a random and unprovoked attack on an elderly stranger in a public place by a repeat offender who failed to render assistance.

As family and supporters watched tearfully from the public gallery, Mrs Nettlefold’s daughter-in-law Elly Audet told the court the loss of a beloved grandmother had devastated her family — coming as it did just 13 months after the sudden death of her husband.

“Her death was a terrible and devastating waste of a vib­rant and active woman who had many years left to live,” she said.

Ms Audet also read her 11½-year-old daughter Bella’s statement.

“He killed my grandmother and it is unimaginable how much he has taken from me,” she said. “You took away from us too much — way too much.”

She told the prisoner he could never imagine the look on her young brother’s face when he learned his grandmother was dead.

Defence layer Tamara Jago SC said her client was profoundly remorseful for his actions, which he could not explain or fully recall.

She read from a letter he had written to the court expressing shame and regret.

“I am disgusted with my actions and I will spend the rest of my life living with what I did to that poor lady and her family,” he wrote.

“There is no one more ashamed and disgusted in me that I am in myself.

“I am sorry.”

Justice Shan Tennent will sentence Bowden on April 29.