‘A piece of my soul is missing’: Akira’s grieving parents tell court of pain after manslaughter trial

Saturday would have been the 15th birthday of a “sweet and gentle soul” who died by manslaughter from a falling tree in 2015. His parents have now revealed their pain in an emotional court hearing.

AFTER seven-year-old Akira Carroll was killed by a falling tree, his brother refused to go out without wearing a helmet, and his sister couldn’t stop the sound of screaming in her head.

Akira’s older brother, “not by blood but by love”, was also shattered, riding his motorbike behind the hearse and getting a tattoo in Akira’s honour.

Meanwhile, for Akira’s parents – Sierra Lynd and Brett Carroll – life will never be the same again.

On Friday, Joshua George Hector Clark – who was previously in a relationship with Ms Lynd – faced the Supreme Court of Tasmania after a jury in September found him guilty of the crime of manslaughter.

After a five-day trial, the jury found the 40-year-old was culpably negligent in causing Akira’s death when he chopped down a hanging tree during an ill-fated illegal wood-hooking trip at Mt Lloyd in August 2015.

Akira died the following day in the Royal Hobart Hospital from blunt force trauma injuries to the head.

This Saturday would have been his 15th birthday.

On Friday, Mr Carroll read his victim impact statement to the court, describing Akira as a “sweet and gentle soul, always curious and caring”.

He said Akira used to dote on his little brother, always “kissing him on the forehead, holding his hand and telling him how much he loved him”.

“The bond they already had was phenomenal,” he said.

Mr Carroll said Akira’s older brother loved him “with all his heart” and struggled “with this reality that is now our lives”.

He said his younger sister was “distraught and bewildered” when she found out what happened, and has “very vivid and horrific nightmares”.

“(She) hears screams in the day in her head and has to excuse herself from class on occasion because the screams are so loud,” Mr Carroll said.

Brett Carroll speaks to the media outside the Supreme Court of Tasmania. In 2015, Mr Carroll's seven-year-old son Akira was killed by a falling tree while on a wood-hooking trip with his mother and her partner. Her partner, Joshua George Hector Clark, has been found guilty by a jury of manslaughter. Picture: Amber Wilson

“He was her best friend and her biggest fan and she still can’t fathom that she’ll never get to see him again.”

Mr Carroll said he never thought he’d be lowering his seven-year-old son’s coffin into the ground.

“I feel like a piece of my soul is missing.”

A statement by Ms Lynd was read to the court by Crown prosecutor Heather Denton.

“Not only did I lose the sweetest, most loving caring boy, I lost my way in life,” Ms Lynd said in her statement.

“My heart shattered into a million pieces.”

She said after Akira’s death, she didn’t shower or change clothes for a week, but rocked and cried incessantly.

“Many times I thought the best thing for myself would be to die,” she said.

Ms Lynd said she became petrified of bush areas, and that her son demanded to wear a helmet for months afterwards, “because he was fearful something would fall on his head, like it did Akira”.

“I have nightmares and flashbacks of the day my life was taken away,” she said.

“I try to move forward but it’s like I’m stuck in this trauma forever.”

Defence barrister Kim Baumeler said Clark had since had a child who died in 2020 from serious medical conditions.

She said the accident was not something that he foresaw.

“It’s very apparent how much this matter has affected Mr Clark and will continue to impact him throughout the course of his life.”

Clark will be sentenced on November 17.

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