Two women avoid jail for filming a 19-year-old being tortured and boasting they ‘made him clean up his own blood’ before he plunged to his death from a Gold Coast balcony

Two women who filmed and posted online the “heartless” torture of a man who later fell to his death in a fourth-floor holiday home on the Gold Coast had “complete disregard” for their involvement, a court has heard.

A 19-year-old woman and a 20-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were sentenced in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday to one count of torture and two counts of armed robbery in company.

The two women, who were both 16 years old at the time of the offence, had filmed around five minutes of a 27-minute episode in which Cian John English and his friend were tortured in a View Pacific hotel room in Surfers Paradise in the early hours . from May 23, 2020.

The court was told that Mr English and his friend were invited into the room to join the two young women and Lachlan Paul Soper-Lagas, 21, Jason Ryan Knowles, 25, and Hayden Paul Kratzmann, 23, as they partied while drinking cocktails. prescription and over-the-counter medicines.

Soper-Lagas, Knowles and Kratzmann were previously convicted of Mr English’s manslaughter.

Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco said things changed just before 2am when Kratzmann began accusing Mr English and his friend of stealing the drugs.

Despite their protestations of innocence, the two friends were then tortured and assaulted in the room for almost 30 minutes before Mr English attempted to flee the unit by escaping over the balcony, where he eventually fell to his death.

The court heard some of the abuse was captured on video by the two women who appeared in court on Tuesday.

Ms Marco said the two girls had filmed videos on their phones, each ranging in length from 7 to 59 seconds.

The court heard that the now 19-year-old woman could be heard saying ‘this is why you don’t steal from the boys’ in one of her videos.

Another video taken by the now 20-year-old showed her ordering Mr English to clean up his own blood from the floor after he was attacked.

The court heard the woman later added text to the video saying ‘the bad b***h, I make this sad c**t to clean up his own blood’.

Ms Marco said both women knew Mr English was “seriously injured on the ground” after falling from the balcony, but instead of calling police they packed their belongings and fled the unit.

Ms Marco said the women later uploaded their videos on social media.

The 20-year-old woman’s lawyer, Angus Edwards, said his client had had a difficult childhood which led to her drug use.

“She tried to numb the pain, mainly with Xanax, which she was using heavily,” Mr Edwards said.

“None of this excuses her behavior, it only explains her lack of empathy that night and lack of memory of what happened.”

Mr Edwards said his client’s videos were “certainly insensitive” and depicted the “very frightening” moments Mr English and his friend faced in the hotel room.

“(She) despises the offenders and herself because of what she sees in those videos,” Edwards said.

The 19-year-old woman’s lawyer, Martin Longhurst, said the evening’s actions were ‘shocking and disgraceful’.

“My client is aware of that,” Mr Longhurst said.

“She acknowledges that Mr. English was deeply loved and missed by his family.

“It’s a family life that my client didn’t have growing up.

“It is accepted that she showed no remorse or insight that evening or later in the week.”

The court heard the 19-year-old woman was overheard bragging about the night Mr English died to friends in the weeks after his death.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Peter Applegarth said he had taken into account that the two women had not been charged with Mr English’s death or had been responsible for assaulting him or his friend.

He said the whole series of events leading to his death was “cruel” and wondered what Mr English would have said if he were alive to give his own victim impact statement to the court.

“I would expect to get a victim impact statement from him about the physical injuries he suffered and the trauma and the psychological injuries he suffered and how his life has changed,” Judge Applegarth said.

‘It is almost cruel to think that he is still alive and to think about what he would say to the court now, but my point is that if he had not died in the unforeseen and unintended manner he would have been a victim.

“His life wouldn’t have been the same as [his friend’s] life hasn’t been the same anymore.’

Judge Applegarth sentenced both women to two years’ probation each and recorded no convictions.

‘As terrible as [Mr English’s death] “It is about the degrading behavior and complete disregard for the dignity of two human beings,” Judge Applegarth said.

“As appalling as your behavior was there and as despicable as you behaved after the events… I am aware of your remorse.”

Judge Applegarth said the two women’s decision to upload the videos to social media instead of calling emergency services was ‘completely reprehensible’.

The court heard that both women were banned from using their phones while on bail for these offences, and have since abstained from drug use.

Both women had previously spent less than two weeks each in pre-trial detention before being released on bail.

When they heard their verdict, the two women were hugged by supporters who hugged them in the courtroom.

Mr English’s mother, Siobhan English, told the court on Tuesday that she was continuing to cope with the painful loss of her “forever hero”.

“The searing pain and terrifying nightmares of seeing my beautiful boy, broken and covered in bandages, is an image that will never leave my mind,” she said.

“Cian’s life was taken without any care or compassion.

‘I still can’t think about how he died… it breaks me a little every time

‘He was only 19 years young and was taken away under the most horrific circumstances.

‘He wasn’t sick, it wasn’t an accident. Cian didn’t want to die, he had his whole life ahead of him.

‘An entire generation has been changed forever.’