In the conclusion to a horrific court case that has been going on for weeks, two men have been found guilty over the death of Lynette Daley, a woman who was found dead on Ten Mile Beach in 2011, after suffering a violent sexual assault.
Her boyfriend at the time Adrian Attwater was found guilty of manslaughter, and his friend Paul Maris was found guilty of hindering the collection of evidence, after burning clothes, and a blood-soaked mattress. They were both also found guilty of aggravated sexual assault.
After five weeks in trial, the jury deliberated for only 30 short minutes before returning. It is reported that Daley’s family gave the jury the thumbs-up upon hearing Attwater’s verdict.
Cries of “yes” from Lynette #Daley‘s family after #Attwater & #Maris were both found guilty of their roles in her death. @9NewsSyd
— Kelly Fedor (@KellyFedor) September 6, 2017
Pleading not-guilty, the men had claimed Daley had died of a seizure during a swim, but the prosecution said she bled to death from an injury suffered through non-consensual sex, and that the men waited too long to call an ambulance.
Previous to this trial, the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions had declined to prosecute. The men were charged in 2011, but the charges were lated dropped. In 2014, a coroner recommended charges again be brought against the men, but it was claimed there was insufficient evidence. It wasn’t until an investigation by Four Corners aired in 2016 that things got moving again, with the story triggering an independent review of the Director of Public Prosecution’s decision not to prosecute, and the men were subsequently charged the following month.
The victim’s stepfather Gordon Davis spoke outside court about the process.
It’s been hard. We thought we wouldn’t get anywhere, but we never gave up. We just pushed and pushed and kept trotting and treading around and it worked in the end. Never give up, no matter what happens. We feel vindicated. You know, in the end justice won and that’s all it is.
The sentencing for Attwater and Maris will begin on November 3.
