Daily London
The bereaved family of a young expectant father at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show, who died in a “sudden and senseless” stabbing, say his life was cut short in a cruel encounter.
The teenager, who stabbed him, was acquitted of murder in November but pleaded guilty to manslaughter after arguing he did not intend to seriously injure when he lunged at and stabbed Uati ‘Pele’ Faletolu in April 2022.
The knife penetrated the heart of the 17-year-old ride attendant, who was on a break and meeting two friends.
A handful of the Faletolu family dressed in black were in court today as they read victim impact statements.
Wiping away tears, the slain teenager’s mother, Janice, said the loss is “a parent’s worst nightmare”.
“Seeing my son’s body the way it was, it’s something you can’t see,” she said, taking long pauses as she carefully read her words.
“That night has altered our lives … nothing is the same, everything has changed.”
Nervously reading her out her statement quickly, Uati’s girlfriend, Taylor Piliae, who was about three months pregnant when he was stabbed, remembered him fondly.
She recounted how she was afraid of a miscarriage when she bled and that his death made her numb.
Struggling with anxiety and depression, Piliae called out users sharing images of Uati’s lifeless body on social media while making cruel jokes, saying it caused her distress.
The single mother said she battled suicidal thoughts while raising a new baby, adding his father should have been alive for her son’s special moments.
“How do I tell my child that the most cruel thing that could happen, happened to his dad?” she said.
Wearing a black shirt bearing a picture of her brother with a beaming smile, his sister said his killing was “violent, sudden and senseless”.
“My brother’s life had meaning,” she said, sobbing.
“Holding the person accountable is the only justice available to us.”
The confrontation occurred by chance after the killer and two friends – all members of an apparent rival street gang – crossed paths with Uati.
Within 10 seconds, the then 14-year-old lunged through a gap in his friends, knifed Uati once and then bolted.
The teen typed a note into his phone after the stabbing with the words “I didn’t beat him up, I took his soul”.
Prosecutors argued the teen’s motivation to kill was underlined by self-stated animosity towards people associated with Uati’s street gang.
In November, Justice Peter Garling dismissed the post-killing statements as the boasts of an adolescent trying to bolster an image of being a gang member.
A jury at an earlier trial was discharged after it could not reach a verdict in May.
Justice Garling will deliver the sentence on December 19.
