Ireland

Three men jailed for role in manslaughter of Irish teenager in Australia

Cian English (19) died after falling from balcony during assault and robbery by three Australian men in Surfers Paradise

Cian English was buried in Leighlinbridge on the banks of the river Barrow in his native Co Carlow. Photograph: Sarah Slater

Sarah Slater
Fri Sep 8 2023 - 09:54

Two men have been jailed for 9½ years and a third for eight years in Australia for the manslaughter of an Irish teenager who fell from an apartment balcony during an armed robbery.

Cian English (19), originally from Carlow town but living in Hawthorne, Brisbane, was fatally injured in a fall from a fourth floor balcony at the View Pacific resort in Surfers Paradise early on May 23rd, 2020. He had been spending a couple of days on the Gold Coast with a friend.

Jason Ryan Knowles (25), Hayden Paul Kratzmann (23) and Lachlan Paul Soper-Lagas (21) were charged with murder but agreed to a plea deal of manslaughter. Kratazmann and Knowles were jailed for nine-and-a-half years, while Soper-Lagas was sentenced to eight years.

Chief Justice Bowskill in Queensland Supreme Court in Brisbane said it was “an absolutely tragic case” in which the “appalling criminal conduct” of the accused men led to the death of Mr English.

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“A young man, very much loved by his family and friends, who have suffered unfathomable grief and pain as result of his death, compounded by the awful circumstances in which that occurred,” she said. “Your conduct also caused severe harm, in particular psychological harm, to a second young person, Mr Dzepo, also only 19 at the time.”

The judge said the guilty pleas meant each accused had taken responsibility for their actions and had saved the community and family members the cost and trauma of a trial.

She said none of the accused “showed any remorse at the time of the offending” and did little to help Mr English after he fell. She said Kratzmann later called the emergency servcies and provided “incomplete and unhelpful information”.

“It is fair to say that your other actions on that fateful morning negate anything positive that could be said about that,” she added.

Clothing and other items were stolen from Mr English and his friend and worn by the three accused, with social media posts showing an element of “bragging about your prizes”, she added.

The court heard Mr English and his friend began chatting with the three accused while on their balconies. The Australian men invited the pair up to their apartment where they were having a party. Things were amicable initially, but Crown Prosecutor Caroline Marco said the atmosphere changed at 1.44am when Kratzmann wrongly accused Mr English and his friend of stealing their prescription and non-prescription drugs.

Mr English and his friend were subjected to physical and mental abuse by the three accused. Mr English was stabbed in the arm and his friend was hit on the head with the handle of a knife. Ms Marco said Mr English ran to the apartment balcony while attempting to escape, before falling to his death.

Mr English’s parents, Siobhán and Vincent, and brother Dylan gave victim impact statements detailing how much they miss Cian and how they suffer with trauma since his death.

Two girls, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are alleged to have filmed the beating, stabbing and fatal fall of Mr English, subsequently posting a video of the events online. Their cases are due before the court on October 25th.

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