Anthony Stott’s last hours had been marred by confusion and violence within the presence of individuals he by no means knew.
Mr Stott, a beloved and well-regarded French trainer at St Peters Lutheran School in Brisbane, died when he was hit by a semi-trailer on the M1 about 7am on Monday February 10, 2020.
He had spent the final hours of his life detained at a farm in Cudgera Creek.
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The trainer had damaged into the property of Lauren Grainger and Mark Frost about 5 hours
earlier, and was later held there in opposition to his will.
Frost, who has since cut up from Grainger, and buddy Craig Button earlier pleaded responsible to 1 depend every of detaining Mr Stott with intent to acquire info and got lowered sentences on the grounds they testified in opposition to Grainger.
However it took a week-long trial earlier than their feminine counterpart was discovered responsible by a jury of Mr Stott’s aggravated kidnapping on the Tweed Valley NSW farm in February 2020.
In the course of the listening to, the court docket was instructed how Mr Stott, who had simply returned to Australia from Peru, was marched exterior and tied to a chair within the farm’s shed throughout his hours-long ordeal.
The saga started when he drove his BMW off the M1 at Cudgera Creek and deserted it on the aspect of a street.
He entered the couple’s home by way of a backdoor round 3.30am earlier than being noticed by Grainger.
Prosecutor Josh Hanna instructed the court docket on Friday Mr Stott was then “marched out” to a shed for a “drunken, violent interrogation”.
Grainger claimed she noticed Mr Stott with a knife whereas on the property.
Mr Stott was photographed whereas tied to the chair, which was allegedly hit with a golf membership by Grainger.
Toxicology checks on Stott got here again unfavorable for medication and alcohol, however the court docket heard he could have been psychotic on the time of the break in.
Mr Hanna stated the group’s actions had been “utterly excessive and unreasonable” whatever the circumstances.
“They didn’t give him a chance to elucidate who he was or what he was doing there – they went utterly overboard of their response,” Mr Hanna stated in court docket.
“Within the utterly improper suspicion that he was there for sinister functions, they restrained him, tied him up and performed a drunken, violent interrogation over the subsequent a number of hours.”
Mr Hanna went on to say the size of time Mr Stott was detained was proof sufficient that the actions weren’t justified.
“They declare they had been confused and scared and indignant,” he instructed the court docket.
“You couldn’t consider all that (the accused did) was mandatory.”
“That they had Mr Stott for hours, regardless that they had been drunk.”
On Monday, Grainger testified she performed a supporting position within the saga, which unfolded after Mr Stott entered the home with “loopy eyes” and a knife within the early hours.
“It was beginning to get gentle, the boys needed to get him off the farm and ship him on his means,” she instructed the court docket.
“The boys put him behind a ute with a tourniquet on and went to dump him in a paddock so he wouldn’t be capable of discover his means again to the home.
“It’s a giant property; we didn’t know the place he was going to be.”
As soon as Mr Stott was launched from the farm, Grainger stated he wandered by means of paddocks, for 10 to fifteen minutes, leaning on one publish “like a gargoyle”.
Grainger stated as soon as he was out of sight, she heard an affect that she feared was a visitors collision.
“I stated, ‘I feel he’s been hit.’ I used to be freaking out,” she stated.
“I used to be frightened he was hit by a automobile or a truck.”
Mr Stott had actually been hit by a semi-trailer, with the collision going down round 7am. Round this time, Grainger stated she swiftly went to help a farm employee who arrived for his or her shift on the property.
She stated Frost went to sleep across the identical time.
“I just about didn’t cease crying from 7 within the morning for the entire day,” she stated.
“I used to be simply so freaked out by what occurred.”
That afternoon, NSW Police filmed Grainger strolling two officers by means of part of the property to a shed, and explaining the early morning’s occasions.
Within the clip, which was performed in court docket, a tough model of the saga was retold for the primary time in what would finally unfold into the convictions of three folks.
Nonetheless, for Anthony Stott, the solutions got here far too late.
