Cluney and Gardner sentenced for offences before fatal car crash in Yanco

Two men charged with breaking into a house and stalking and intimidating a woman who subsequently died in a car crash with three children in Yanco will be eligible for parole later this year.

Griffith District Court Judge Clive Jeffreys considered the “significantly deprived background” of abuse, trauma and foster care experienced by both Dean Cluney, 33, and Tyrone Gardner, 22, when sentencing them for offences committed against Tania Murphy, 36, and another woman in April 2023.

Judge Jeffreys told the court the two men bashed in the back door of a house in Yanco after being refused entry. Mr Cluney aggressively yelled at the occupants and Mr Gardner reportedly threatened to bash Ms Murphy.

Soon after this incident, Ms Murphy fled her home and was killed in a car crash alongside her two sons and nephew when her vehicle hit a pole and rolled into a water channel.

The two men were not charged in relation to the car crash, but pleaded guilty to aggravated break and entry and stalking/intimidation charges.

Mr Cluney was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison, with a non-parole period of one year and five months. Because he has been in jail since his arrest in April 2023, he will be eligible for parole on 4 September, 2024.

Mr Gardner was sentenced to two years and four months in prison, with a non-parole period of one year and two months. He will be eligible for parole on 5 June, 2024.

In handing the men much less prison time than the maximum possible sentence, Judge Jeffreys said he considered the fact they pleaded guilty, their traumatic upbringings, their good behaviour in jail until now and the fact there was “no actual violence” in the offences for which they were charged.

He said Mr Cluney had a disadvantaged childhood characterised by domestic violence and being taken into the care of child protection authorities.

“He would be bashed by his father when he intervened to help his mother,” Judge Jeffreys said.

Mr Cluney went to 12 different primary schools and was expelled in year 9.

Judge Jeffreys also said Mr Cluney suffered from trauma when he discovered the body of his stepson in the accident that also killed Ms Murphy. He had completed several programs in prison and had “agonised” over how he could have behaved differently in the lead-up to Ms Murphy’s death.

The court was told Mr Gardner lived in 18 different foster homes in 18 different towns as a child.

His partner was pregnant during his arrest and he still hasn’t seen his daughter.

Judge Jeffreys also considered his youth in sentencing him.

Both men appeared at the court hearing via video links from custody, Mr Cluney from Bathurst and Mr Gardner from Nowra.

“Can I ask one question, please?” Mr Cluney said after the judge read out his sentence.

“No,” the judge replied. “You need to speak to your lawyer.”

Both men will be supervised by community corrections officers once they are released on parole.