THE mother of Carly McBride has told her daughter's killer of the unimaginable "grief, loss and horror" she has experienced since the mother-of-two disappeared at Muswellbrook in 2014 as the prosecution revealed they would not be pushing for a life sentence.
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Sayle Kenneth Newson, now 44, was found guilty of murdering Ms McBride after a trial in Newcastle Supreme Court in June, the jury left with no doubt he was the person who intercepted Ms McBride after she left a visit with her daughter at Muswellbrook on September 30, 2014, and inflicted a number of brutal blows to her head and back before dumping her body near the side of a lonely stretch of road outside Scone.
Newson maintains his innocence, has shown no remorse and has lodged an appeal against his conviction to the Court of Criminal Appeal.
He faced a sentence hearing on Monday and listened as Ms McBride's mother, Lorraine Williams, attempted to outline the profound grief she had suffered, first waiting for her daughter to come home, then fearing the worst and finally, in 2016, being told her daughter's remains had been found.
"Carly was missing for two long and excruciating years," Lorraine said during her victim impact statement. "Every single day was like a living nightmare. I was lost and fell into a deep hole of grief."
Lorraine said her thoughts were constantly flooded with every possibility, including the worst case scenario, while also holding out hope she would turn up alive.
"I want my normal life back," Lorraine said. "I don't want to be known as the mother of a murdered child. That is not something i would wish on anyone. "Carly should be here living her life with her children. "After today I never want to hear from or speak of the man who killed her again. "He did the worst thing humanly possible, the worst thing a human could do to another person when he murdered her. "He no longer has any power to hurt me and I refuse to think of him anymore."
Crown prosecutor Lee Carr, SC, told Justice Mark Iearce, SC, that while Newson's offending was a serious example of a domestic violence murder, the fact that the attack was unplanned and he had intended not to kill Ms McBride but cause her grievous bodily harm meant the prosecution would not be submitting a life sentence was appropriate.
Defence barrister Chris Watson, relying on a psychiatric report, said Newson's childhood and drug use should help explain Newson's excessive emotional reactions of anger and jealousy at the time he killed Ms McBride. Justice Ierace reserved his judgement until a later date.