Three men who kidnapped and assaulted a Canberra auctioneer because they alleged he was a paedophile and wanted to serve vigilante justice on him have been sentenced to jail.
The trio, who were 17 years old at the time of the offending, faced the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday after they pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping.
The court heard that Peter Keeley, 56, was found dead near a beach at Broulee, about 20km south of Batemans Bay in February 2020.
Mr Keeley had gone to the region to meet one of the offenders who lured him from Canberra after the pair exchanged messages on dating app Grindr.
Prior to the offending, the trio discussed a plan for them to tie Mr Keeley and assault him.
At the crime scene, the instigator of the plan began bashing Mr Keeley before the other two joined after leaving their hiding spot.
A witness and authorities later discovered Mr Keeley's body with his hands and feet tied, as well as tape near his mouth being torn and removed.
Following the assault, evidence linked the trio to Mr Keeley's body and the tape.
The offenders had pleaded not guilty to murder, with two being acquitted in June due to reasonable doubt surrounding the cause of death while that charge was dropped for the third offender.
During sentencing on Tuesday, the court heard the motive of the offending was to humiliate Mr Keeley and dissuade him from sexually exploiting young men in the future because of the trio's perception the victim was an alleged paedophile.
Justice Michael Walton said the motivation was not mitigating nor aggravating.
"This is vigilante conduct," he said.
"The offenders were each of the distorted view at the time that their behaviour was justified."
The judge cited the prosecution's argument that "this court should actively discourage the type of vigilante justice which lays at the centre of the offenders' motive".
Justice Walton said the assault "was sustained and brutal" and "undoubtedly a frightening experience for the deceased".
"When the offenders left the crime scene, he was very vulnerable, being unable to move or call for assistance after being severely assaulted," he said.
For all offenders, he found special circumstances, which were their ages, otherwise good characters and demonstrated remorse, good prospects of rehabilitation, and continual impact of COVID on limiting face to face visits in jail.
For one offender, his remorse included him saying "dad, I'm sorry" during his arrest.
"I didn't do it on purpose, it was an accident," the offender said.
Justice Walton said the aggravated kidnapping was "not an adult-like offence" and that apart from some illicit drug use, the trio was law abiding and of good character.
"It was not committed by hardened, young offenders, but by three youths who were friends," he said.
The judge said the offending "stemmed from a dangerous and misguided idea", which according to one offender "all went terribly wrong".
"For reasons of youth alone, there ought to be less emphasis on retribution and general deterrence that might otherwise be the case and more emphasis on rehabilitation," Justice Walton said.
He also found one of the offenders' mental illness and "background of profound deprivation" meant his criminality was reduced.
Justice Walton said that after reading victim impact statements, which were barred from being read out in court, by Mr Keeley's family, the court expressed sympathies for their loss and "the despair they may be experiencing".
However, he said those observations could not contribute to the sentencing of the offenders.
The instigator of the offending was sentenced to five years and eight months' jail while his co-offenders were handed jail terms of three years and 10 months, and four years and four months.
All the terms were backdated to February 2020 when the trio was arrested.
The offender whose mental illness reduced his sentencing was given a non-parole period until September 12 this year while the other two's non-parole periods are until January and December 2023.
In a statement, Mr Keeley's brother, Mark Keeley, said the family "is glad this is over now and we can just move on from the sad past few years".
AS IT HAPPENED:
- Teens' 'sketchy' plan led to alleged bushland murder of auctioneer
- No 'silver bullet' cause of death as experts disagree in murder trial
- Trial of accused murderers focuses on drug overdose as cause of death
- 'Extensive assault' caused bound and gagged auctioneer's death, court told
- Meth overdose possibly killed auctioneer found bound in bushland: lawyer
- Men found not guilty of murdering auctioneer after Grindr meeting
-
Murder charge dropped after Grindr chat led to auctioneer's death
- Family of auctioneer found dead after Grindr chat denied being heard in court
