The mother of killed Illawarra teenager Louise O'Brien is devastated that a woman found guilty of helping to cover up her death could walk free as early as December next year.
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The 47-year-old woman was convicted, in Wollongong District Court, of being an accessory after the fact in the 2008 manslaughter of the teen.
On Friday, Judge Paul Conlon sentenced the woman - who cannot be named for legal reasons - to four years' jail with a three-year non-parole period. The charge carried a maximum sentence of five years.
Judge Conlon agreed to backdate the sentence to December 2011 to cover time the woman had already served in jail awaiting court proceedings. She will be eligible for parole on December 5 next year.
Louise's body was discovered in February 2011 in a bin buried in the backyard of a northern Illawarra home.
It is alleged she died on October 12, 2008, after an elderly woman looking after her failed to seek medical treatment for injuries that the teen had allegedly received earlier in the day.
Ms McDonald outside Wollongong Courthouse.The 47-year-old woman and her 19-year-old son were found to have helped the elderly woman dispose of the teen's body.
Outside court yesterday, Louise's mother, Kathy McDonald, said the sentence was inadequate.
"To those who took my daughter Louise's life, you took a beautiful person who had many dreams and loved life and who would help anyone who needed it, and yet these monsters are still able to take a breath," she said.
"There is no sentence that will be long enough for what they have done. I have not just lost a daughter, I have lost my best friend. And [her brother] Brad has lost his best mate."
Ms McDonald gave thanks to those who had helped her throughout the ordeal, although she said there were many unanswered questions surrounding Louise's death.
"Both Louise's brother and I would like to thank all the people who have supported us throughout this horrific event," she said.
"[They included] the police for their understanding when I have had many questions and been upset and stressed with this whole process and system."
Handing down the sentence yesterday, Judge Conlon said that in police interviews the woman had "presented as a manipulative and conniving individual" and had "demonstrated herself to be a pathological liar".
He said the woman had organised the removal of Louise's body to another northern Illawarra property, where it was placed inside a garbage bin and buried in a hole that had been dug by her son and another man.
In doing so, Judge Conlon said, she had prevented the authorities from determining the exact injuries that killed the teen.
"The offender has continued to deny responsibility," he said. " ... There's a total absence of any remorse."
In sentencing the woman to a minimum three years' jail, he said the case "fell towards the very upper end of the range of offences of its type".
Defence lawyer Aaron Kernaghan said his client would be considering her appeal options.
