THREE men found guilty of manslaughter over the death of a Perth woman, who jumped or fell out of a moving car in fear after she had been kidnapped, have each been jailed for more than a decade.
Mother-of-three Peta Fairhead, 27, and two male acquaintances were lured to a house then robbed, detained against their will and terrorised by Ross James Boag, 20, Leroy Smith and Lucas James Yarran, both 21, in August 2016.
The Supreme Court of WA heard all involved were using methamphetamines.
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READ NOWThe three victims were drawn to the Ridgewood property about 2am by a 15-year-old girl, who cannot be named and asked one of the acquaintances if he had meth, suggesting she was sexually interested in him.
Yarran had asked the girl if she knew anyone they could “roll for gear”.
Ms Fairhead and the two men were threatened with baseball bats and a machete during a 40-minute ordeal at the house, and were then forced into her car, which Yarran drove erratically.
After he threatened to take them to bushland where they would be burnt inside the car, Ms Fairhead reached for the machete, opened the door and either jumped or fell out in fear.
Her head hit the road, inflicting a fatal injury.
Yarran went back and collected the unconscious woman, and dumped her outside Joondalup Health Campus, where she was unable to be revived by doctors and died.
“She was driven to do a dangerous act because of fear and her desire to escape,” Justice Stephen Hall said on Friday.
Yarran received an 11-year jail term while his co-offenders were each handed 10-and-a-half year terms.
Outside court, Ms Fairhead’s father Bart Diaz said he was disappointed with the sentences.
“I don’t believe it was as heavy as it should have been, but the judge understands what he’s doing,” Mr Diaz said.
“The heart-wrenching part is they’ll be out before they’re 30. Peta turns 30 next year.”
The men were convicted in March.