A woman will spend more than a year in jail for her role in a "bizarre" kidnapping on the New South Wales far north coast.
Lauren Grainger was one of three people involved in the illegal detention of Brisbane school teacher Anthony Stott.
She had pleaded not guilty to a charge of illegally detain for advantage but was found guilty by a jury in September last year.
Mr Stott was tied to a chair for several hours after being found at the back door of a farm house on a property at Cudgera Creek in February 2020.
Lismore District Court on Thursday heard Mr Stott was behaving erratically on a flight to Brisbane the day before his death, and his car was twice caught by speed cameras as he drove south before pulling over near the farm house.
The 43-year-old was eventually released, but died soon after when he was hit by a truck on the nearby Pacific Motorway.
Two men, Mark Frost and Craig Button, were earlier given non-custodial sentences after pleading guilty to their roles in the crime and agreeing to testify against Grainger.
'Unconvincing, unreliable witness'
In handing down her sentence, Judge Jennifer English said the facts to be disputed were whether or not Mr Stott was armed with a knife, whether Grainger hit him with a golf club and the length of time he was detained.
Judge English said she found aspects of Grainger's evidence "untruthful and unreliable" including the claim that Mr Stott was armed with a knife.
"I find the offender a most unconvincing and unreliable witness," she said.
"I am unable to find her genuinely remorseful."
Judge English said the penalties imposed on Frost and Button by the trial judge, who had since retired, were "extraordinarily lenient".
She said Mr Stott was "frog-marched", tied to a chair with rope around his neck, yelled at, threatened with a golf club and put into the back of a ute.
"The detention of the victim was more than unreasonable," she said.
"I find her [Grainger's] level of moral culpability far greater than that of the co-accused as she wielded the golf club," she said.
"She used the weapon to threaten the victim."
Judge English acknowledged the three offenders were not criminally responsible for what happened after Mr Stott left the property.
"The consequences of this incident were tragic for the victim's family and the truck driver."
Judge English told the court the maximum penalty for illegally detaining a person for advantage was 20 years imprisonment.
Grainger was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail with a non-parole period of 15 months.
She will be eligible for release in June next year.
Dad's disappointment at sentence
Grainger's hands were shaking and she was visibly upset as the prison sentence was handed down.
Outside court her father, Jack Grainger, said his family was disappointed with the outcome.
Grainger's solicitor, Nicole Conlan, said an appeal was being considered.
"[It's a] very disappointing result," she said.
"We are currently considering an appeal and obviously this is a situation where there are no winners."
