Aussie mum loses it at judge over his sentence for man who stabbed her daughter 78 times in horrific murder: ‘Insult to women globally’
A killer who stabbed his ex-girlfriend 78 times while on parole has been jailed for 22 years and six months.
Newcastle Supreme Court Justice Richard Weinstein said Tyrone Thompson’s brutal murder of mother-of-one Mackenzie Anderson, 21, was a frenzied attack of such ferocity that one of the two knives he used snapped.
Justice Weinstein said the Crown submitted that the seriousness of the crime was aggravated by previous domestic violence in the relationship, Ms Anderson’s fear of Thompson and her attempts to end the relationship, which he refused to accept.
The judge noted Ms Anderson’s family had been shattered by her murder and left with feelings of helplessness, despair and anger.
Ms Anderson’s loss would profoundly impact her family forever and her death at such a young age was ‘every parent’s nightmare’, he said.
But the judge also said Thompson’s significant mental health issues, the domestic violence he suffered as a child at the hands of his violent, schizophrenic, drug-addled father, his difficult schooling and exposure to drugs had diminished his moral culpability.
While jailing Thompson for 22 years and six months, with a non-parole period of 15 years and six months, for murder on Friday, Justice Weinstein said he found Thompson intended to kill Ms Anderson when he first started stabbing her.
Thompson, 25, watched the sentencing via audiovisual link from prison instead of facing his victim’s grieving family in court.
Thompson, who stabbed Ms Anderson 78 times with two kitchen knives over two minutes in March 2022, had been due to stand trial for murder before pleading guilty earlier in April.
Mackenzie Anderson’s loss would profoundly impact her family forever, the judge said
Tyrone Thompson has been jailed for murdering his ex-girlfriend after stabbing her 78 times. (HANDOUT/9NEWS)
In a letter of remorse to the judge, Thompson – who was diagnosed with a complex post-traumatic stress disorder and severe personality disorder but was not considered psychotic – claimed the pair had struggled with a knife and when his hand was cut ‘something inside me lost control’.
Ms Anderson’s mother, Tabitha Acret, had told the court how her daughter must have suffered a ‘fear no human should ever know’ on the night she was murdered and had been convinced Thompson would kill her after being paroled.
Thompson and Ms Anderson had been involved in an on-again, off-again relationship, marred by domestic violence, since late 2019.
He was jailed in October 2021 for assaulting Ms Anderson, intimidating her and destroying her property before being released on parole on March 9, 2022.
Thompson, who ignored an apprehended domestic violence order banning him from contacting Ms Anderson, killed her 16 days later after breaking into her apartment in the Newcastle suburb of Mayfield.
Ms Acret ran sobbing from the courtroom after the sentence was handed down and collapsed on the floor outside.
‘While no verdict and no sentence can bring Mackenzie back, we are outraged by today’s outcome,’ she said.
‘Whilst this may be thought as a good outcome by the courts, we are disgusted that this sentence is what they think the value of my daughter’s life was worth.
‘Today is an example that some serious investigation and legislation is needed into the justice system where justice is not being served.
‘Justice Weinstein’s sentence was an insult to women globally and I call for an urgent review and appeal of this sentence.’
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