Man and woman found guilty of murder of Sydney teenager Jason Galleghan after AirPods dispute
Nearly three years ago, Jason Galleghan met his friends at a western Sydney train station.
A few hours later, the teenager was left for dead after a brutal bashing, lying alone in his boxer shorts.
On Monday, Kayla Dawson, 22, and Richard Sione, 34, were found guilty in the New South Wales supreme court of the 16-year-old’s murder.
Dawson lured Jason – who she suspected of stealing her Apple AirPods – to a property, where he was savagely beaten by Sione and subsequently by a group of teenagers who referred to the man as “uncle” or “dad”.
The 16-year-old died of his injuries two days after the August 2021 assault.
“The murder of the deceased was carried out in such horrific circumstances and the role of Miss Dawson was central to it,” acting justice Robert Allan Hulme said in his decision after a judgealone trial.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Dawson made it known that she believed the teenager had stolen her AirPods, and it was decided Jason would be lured to the suburb of Doonside and bashed as punishment for the suspected theft.
The judge rejected Dawson’s application to have her charge reduced to manslaughter due to a substantial cognitive impairment affecting her capacity to control herself or weigh up her own actions.
“The fact that (she) chose to leave the room on at least one occasion to go outside and speak to the concerned neighbours seems at odds with the proposition her capacity to control herself was substantially impaired,” Hulme said.
Dawson’s decision to film and transmit video of the incident also worked against any claim of impairment.
“I just can’t stop laughing, I’m sending it to Johnno,” she said at the time of the assault.
Dawson and Sione will return for sentencing on 8 July.