21-year-old man sentenced to 18 years in prison over stabbing of teenager

A 21-year-old man will spend a minimum of 12 years behind bars for the death of a teenager on the NSW far north coast in 2022.

Transcript

00:00The killer of Northern Rivers teen Ned Gronow has been sentenced to 18 years in prison with

00:06a non-parole period of 12 by Supreme Court Justice Helen Wilson today at Lismore Courthouse.

00:12Ned Gronow was 17 when he was stabbed to death in his home in Cassino on June 25, 2022.

00:19His killer, 21-year-old Rain Aylward, who was 18 at the time, stabbed Ned 12 times in

00:24his bedroom while his parents were in the home in what Justice Wilson described as a

00:29savage and sustained attack.

00:31The court heard Mr Aylward had walked for over an hour on the night of the 25th to the

00:36Gronow residence and boasted through messages about the size of the knife he intended to

00:40use to kill Ned.

00:43Justice Wilson cited his age, his troubled childhood and was satisfied that the act was

00:47out of character.

00:49She described Mr Aylward's significantly deprived childhood, characterised by violence, transience

00:55and substance abuse.

00:57Justice Wilson was satisfied Mr Aylward deeply regrets what he did and is deeply haunted

01:02by his crime.

01:04As his sentence of 18 years in prison with a non-parole period of 12 was read aloud in

01:09court, supporters of the Gronow family audibly shouted towards Mr Aylward, who was standing

01:15in the dock, but he did not react.

01:18Outside of court, Julie Gronow, Ned's mother, said the family was not satisfied with the

01:24sentence.

01:25The family has been condemned to a lifelong sentence of unimaginable horror from which

01:33we will never escape.

01:36A home, once a sanctuary, has been irreparably violated.

01:45Rayne Aylward will be eligible for parole in 2034.