2019-05-01+The+Australian+Womens+Weekly

24 The Australian Women’s Weekly|MAY 2019

F

orSydney’sKingsCross,it was

stillearly.Atprecisely10.05pm

onJuly7, 2012,ThomasKelly,

a newlyappointedtrainee

accountant,openedthedoor

ofa taxiandsteppedintoa bustling

SaturdaynightonVictoriaStreetin one

of themostnotoriousandunpredictable

entertainmentareasin thecountry.

AsThomassteppedontothestreet

thatnight,hewastalkingintohis

mobilephone,speakingwitha friend

whowasdirectinghimtothenearby

venuewheretheyplannedtomeetand

celebratea colleague’sbirthday.Ashe

spoke,Thomasreachedforthehand

ofa youngwoman,Shaneez,a fellow

cadetwithwhomhe’dstruckupa

closefriendshipin recentmonthswhile

workingat a prestigiousaccounting

firm,HallChadwick.Theywereyoung,

obviouslyattractedtoeachotherand

thiswastheirfirstofficialoutingasa

couple.ClosedcircuitTVfootagelater

showedThomaslaughingandsmiling

asheheldShaneez’shand.Romance

wasclearlyin theair.

Unfortunately,thatis whereboththe

romanceandallthepromiseof Thomas

Kelly’syounglifeended,snuffedout

in anappallingactofunprovoked

violence.Justtwominuteslater

Thomaswaslaidoutona King’s

Crosspavement,hisbloodspreading

darklyacrossconcrete.

A drunkenthug,18-year-oldKieran

Loveridge,lungedat thecoupleoutof

thedarkness.HepunchedThomasin

theface– a full-forceblowthatthe

youngmanneversawcoming– a

senselesscoward’spunchthatthrew

Thomasbackwards,smashingthe

backofhisskullontothefootpath.

Heneverregainedconsciousness.

“Whathappenedtomyfamilythat

nightwouldn’thavehappenedif the

personwhokilledThomashadmade

differentdecisions,”saysKathyKelly,

the56-year-oldmotherof Thomas,

StuartandMadeleineKelly.“Buthe

madea decisionthatnightthathe

wasgoingouttohurtpeople.Justa

fewhoursbefore,heandhismates

arrivedin thecityalreadyheavily

intoxicated.Theywereseenrunning

acrossthePyrmontBridge,rushingup

to people, roaring in their faces, trying

tointimidatethemastheywalkedby.

Thatwasthebeginningofa longnight

ofbadchoicesandbadbehaviourthat

stillhasa profoundeffect,eventoday,

sevenyearslater.

“It’sa horriblerippleeffectthatended

thatnightwithThomas’deathbutis

stillhavingramifications,notjustfor

meandmyhusband,Ralph,andour

daughter,butforThomas’friends,

forStuart,forhisfriendsandevenfor

thefamilyandfriendsofthekiller.”

KathyandRalph’stormentwas

latercompoundedbya tortuouscourt

processthat,tothem,seemedbiased

in favouroftheassailant.They

steadfastlybelievedThomas’killer

shouldbechargedwithmurder;

however,theNSWDirectorofPublic

Prosecutionswouldonlychargehim

withmanslaughter,citinga lackof

demonstrableintent.Asa result,

Loveridgereceivedonlya maximumsix

years’imprisonmentforThomas’death

anda further 18 monthsforthefour

otherassaultsheperpetratedonthe

samenight.Bewilderingly,thetrialjudge

saidthatLoveridge’sintoxicationwas

a mitigatingfactor,thattheassailant’s

decisionto punchThomaswasintended

but his death was not, and that the

incidentwasat the“lowend”of offence

eventhoughwitnessesheardLoveridge

proclaimearlierin theevening:“I swear

I’mgoingto bashsomeonetonight.”

“Wewerehorrified,absolutely

horrified,”saysKathy.“Wewere

shocked,completelycold,unbelieving

thatthesentencecouldbesolenient.”

AnappealbytheDPPresultedin

theSupremeCourtdoubling

Loveridge’ssentenceto 14 yearswith

a minimumnon-paroleperiodof 10

years.Withoutparole,hewillbein jail

until 2026 buthecouldbeonthe

streetsagainassoonas2022.

Thomas’deathprecipitatedthe

introductionoftheso-called“one-

punch”lawin NSW,otherwiseknown

as unlawfulassault,whichtodaycarries

a maximumsentenceof 20 years.

Kathy,Ralphandtheirdaughter

Madeleine,now23,haveborneas much

heartacheduringthepastsevenyearsas

anyfamilycouldendure.Notonlydid

theyburyThomas,butthefar-reaching

tragedyofhisviolentdeathleftan

indeliblemarkonThomas’younger

brother,Stuart,whoneverrecovered

fromthelossofhis“bestfriend”.

WhathappenednexttotheKelly

familyis thestuffofnightmares.It’s

oftensaidthatnoparentshouldhave

toattendthefuneraloftheirchild,

buttheKellyshavehadtosufferthat

experiencenotonce,buttwice,when

Stuartcommittedsuicidein 2016.

TheKellyfamilyhadbecomethe

targetofunprecedentedpublic

vilificationfortheircampaignagainst

Sydney’slate-nightdrinkingcultureand

thestreamofviolencethatsometimes

followedin itswake.Asa result,NSW

politicians had introduced the infamous

StuartandThomaswerebestfriends.

Right: Madeleine with her two brothers.

“That is our

greatest

regret, that

we didn’t see

the signs.”