Kerry Lee Whiting sentence summary - The Examiner - video Dailymotion

The Examiner's Joe Colebrook summarises the jury's findings following the trial of Kerry Lee Whiting.  Footage by Paul Scambler

Transcript

00:00Murderer Kerry Lee Whiting will spend decades behind bars after a Supreme Court judge described

00:06his actions as simply cowardly.

00:09I'm Joe Colbrook, standing outside the Supreme Court in Launceston where earlier today Justice

00:14Tamara Jago sentenced Whiting to 38 years imprisonment for murder and attempted murder.

00:20She described the 2021 knife attack on his ex-partner Natalie Joyce Harris and her new

00:25boyfriend Adrian Paul Mayne as a cowardly act that was a consequence of his jealous

00:30and controlling attitude.

00:32Whiting, a 47-year-old former Waverley resident, broke into Miss Harris' house in the early

00:38hours of November 25th, 2021.

00:42He entered the home with what Justice Jago said was a firm intention to kill the couple

00:47as they slept, in retribution for Miss Harris breaking up with him and striking up a relationship

00:52with Mr Mayne.

00:54He began stabbing Mr Mayne with a knife, striking him 20 times before he died, and

00:59also turned the weapon on Miss Harris.

01:02Whiting struck her 27 times, and may have killed her as well if it wasn't for an intervention

01:08by her teenage son, who she previously raised with Mr Whiting.

01:14Justice Jago praised the young man's bravery and stoicism, directly contrasting it with

01:18the actions of his father, which left his victim's lives irretrievably damaged.

01:22She said there could be no tolerance for men like Whiting, who seek to extend their

01:26want for control over their partner's lives by committing family violence, which the crimes

01:31clearly were.

01:33Justice Jago said the lengthy jail sentence, which carried a non-parole period of 24 years

01:37and was backdated to his arrest on December 2nd, 2021, was the only appropriate punishment.