• Brooke Baskin
• The Courier-Mail
• October 09, 2013 12:00AM

Phillip Graeme Abell, 41, stood with a hardened face as he was told he would serve a life sentence without parole for the shooting murder on May 29, 2011.

Outside court, the father-of-two’s family rejoiced at the sentence but shared their heartbreak.

“We would just like to say how grateful we are to the judge and the court for the length of the sentence,” mum Julie Waters said.

“Obviously that’s never going to bring Damian back, but nothing is enough to bring Damian back, ever …”

Abell was sentenced to 18 years jail for the terrifying armed robbery of the Pacific Pines Tavern and three years jail for each of the seven hostages he detained at gunpoint in the long, frightening minutes before Sen-Const Leeding was shot at 10.40pm.

There was no repeat of Abell’s antics as the verdict was delivered, when he infamously refused to stand and flipped the bird at Supreme Court Justice James Douglas.

His only supporter in court, his partner, sat emotionless behind him in the public gallery. Abell will be 59 before he is eligible for release.

Justice Douglas denounced his lack of remorse and the “deliberate” killing of a police officer in the execution of his duty.

He said that by arming himself with a loaded shotgun during the holdup, Abell would have “at least anticipated the possibility of police intervening”.

“It seems significant to me the crime was a deliberate shooting of a police officer who was acting in his sworn duty to protect the public,” he said.

Ms Waters and Sen-Const Leeding’s sisters Hayley and Chantelle read out victim impact statements from the witness stand through tears.

The women spoke about the toll their son and brother’s murder had on their family, of their individual battles with post-traumatic stress disorder, their struggle to come to terms with his loss and frustration at broken relationships.

Ms Waters told of the daily struggle to sit through her son’s murder trial and being “overwhelmed” at seeing her son’s killers.

“Words cannot express our grief and how much we miss Damian,” she said.

Tavern staff members Kelly McLaren and Emma Stoddard shared their grief and sadness and told of the ongoing, debilitating impact on their emotional and physical well-being.

Ms Stoddard said she blamed herself for what happened to Sen-Const Leeding and struggled to find meaning or happiness in her life.

“I constantly remember Damian who lost everything,” she said.

Abell’s extensive criminal history of violent armed robberies was aired in court, including the holdup of a bank for which he served eight years in 1997. In 1990, he was sentenced to four-years jail for being the getaway driver when a convenience store was held up with a loaded pistol.

He was dealt with for violence towards Queensland Corrective Services officers while in custody in 1993.

Abell is yet to be sentenced for a violent home invasion on December 30, 2010, using the same sawn-off shotgun that killed Sen-Const Leeding.

He and accomplice Donna Lee McAvoy, 39, were convicted of the Coomera detective’s murder last month.

Outside court, Assistant Commissioner Paul Wilson said he had phoned Sen-Const Leeding’s wife Sonya, who was absent from court as her children were unwell, to tell her of the sentence.

 

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/jury-retires-to-consider-murder-charges-against-two-people-accused-of-killing-policeman-damian-leeding/story-fnihsrk2-1226725185117

Phillip Graeme Abell, 41, and Donna Lee McAvoy, 39, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Coomera detective Senior Constable Damian Leeding, 35, as he tried to foil their escape from a hold-up at 10.40pm on May 29, 2011.

At the opening of the 11-day trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court, both pleaded guilty to armed robbery with personal violence and to seven counts of deprivation of liberty.

Justice James Douglas on Monday summed up the evidence to the jury before it retired to consider a verdict at 12.35pm.

It returned to a packed court room at 3.50pm to deliver a unanimous decision.

Crown Prosecutor Todd Fuller QC told the Supreme Court in Brisbane Sen-Constable Leeding was shot in the head at close range just minutes after he arrived at the scene.

He suffered “catastrophic” brain injuries that led to his life support being switched off on June 1. He had fired three shots from his gun before it jammed.

Mr Fuller said an “organised criminal enterprise” almost escaped with a haul of $16,000 in coins and $20 notes after the hold-up.

The pair disguised themselves, wore padding and dressed in dark clothing as they robbed the tavern, taking seven staff members and patrons hostage by holding the gun to their heads and tying their arms behind their backs with zip-ties.

One woman managed to sneak out and call 000 from her car before driving away. Another witness called 000 when he saw the drama unfolding as he stopped by for a drink.

Sen-Constable Leeding and his partner, detective Sen-Constable Nicole Jackson, were the first police on scene and drew their guns.

Sen-Constable Leeding jumped over a fence at the tavern and yelled “stop police, police” when his partner heard two shots ring out and dived for cover.

Sen-Constable Leeding had more than 50 injuries to his face caused by pellets from the shot fired at him. The injuries included skull fractures, compound facial fractures, lacerations to his frontal lobes and a complete loss of eyesight.

McAvoy and Abell were caught in nearby bushland that night.

Earlier, the public gallery in court 11 was packed as the jury filed out to consider the evidence heard during the trial.

Justice James Douglas on Monday summed up the evidence to the jury before it retired to consider a verdict at 12.35pm.

He told the jury it should dismiss all feelings of sympathy or prejudice and warned it against allowing public opinion to affect its decision.

Justice Douglas  said it was open to the jury to find both Abell and McAvoy guilty of murder with intent, if they were satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Sen-Constable Leeding was dead, the defendant Abell killed him and did so with intent to cause death or grievous bodily harm and that the killing was unlawful.

He said the jury could also find Abell and McAvoy guilty of murder if they found the unlawful killing was carried out in the prosecution of an unlawful purpose, as in this particular case, an armed robbery, and was a probable consequence of the act.

Justice Douglas said it was the burden of the prosecution to disprove the police officer’s use of force was unlawful on the night.

Under the law, if a person was assaulted and there was a reasonable apprehension of death or grievous bodily harm, and the person cannot otherwise preserve themselves, it would be lawful for the person to use any such force as was necessary to defend themselves.

He said if the jury found Abell acted in self-defence, it must find him not guilty of murder or manslaughter.

Justice Douglas summarised the evidence heard during the trial and the closing arguments of the Crown and defence counsels.

He told the jury it must reach a unanimous verdict.

 

 

 

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/phillip-graeme-abell-and-donna-lee-mcavoy-show-no-remorse-after-being-found-guilty-of-murder-gold-coast-policeman-damian-leeding/story-fnihsrf2-1226725531549

Just moments earlier, those same eyes stared down the sites of a shortened Bentley pump-action shotgun and fired at a police officer.

Blood trickles down his left arm where a police dog latched onto him in bushland near the Pacific Pines Tavern.

He didn’t make a sound as the dog bit into the flesh of his armpit and crouched silently in the lantana until a police torch picked him out in the darkness.

“You’ve got the wrong guy,” he told them.

“I’ve had a couple of drinks and come into the bush.”

Abell was marched from the scrub by two police officers who tracked him in the dark for 350m and five long minutes.

Their radios were switched down low as the dog tracked his scent, a heady mix of adrenaline, sweat and alcohol.

Back on the road, Abell’s hands were wrapped in paper to preserve evidence and cuffed behind his back.

The weapon he brandished during the stick-up was dumped into the bush near where he ran off the road.

A few more metres on he dropped a bum-bag full of shotgun cartridges, tore off a brown jacket, a black life vest, gloves and tracksuit pants.

The image of gunman Abell, 41, was yesterday released by the Supreme Court in Brisbane after he and Donna Lee McAvoy, 39, were found guilty of the shooting murder of Coomera detective Sen-Constable Damian Leeding outside the tavern that night.

McAvoy, overweight and wrapped in layers of clothing, trailed Abell as they ran from the tavern moments after the shooting.

The spoils of their 16-minute siege on a quiet Sunday night – $16,000 in coins and notes weighing more than 70kg – was abandoned in the car park.

McAvoy was wrestled onto Pitcairn Rd by two police officers and Abell took his chance to flee.

They said she looked exhausted and complained of struggling for breath with her breasts bandaged down and her torso strapped in a child’s-size life jacket.

CCTV images from the robbery showed Abell pointing the gun at frightened patrons and staff as they cowered on the ground and behind the bar McAvoy zip-tied the hostage’s hands behind their backs and filled a black sports bag with cash from a safe. Abell threatened he would “shoot to get out’’ if the police turned up.

As the bandits fled with cash and stolen car keys, Sen-Constable Leeding foiled any chance they had at a clean exit by jumping a 1.2m high fence, running through a children’s playground and firing three rounds before his Glock pistol jammed.

Abell returned fire with a single blast from the shortened shotgun, striking the detective in the head and face.

The trial exhibits released by Justice James Douglas yesterday included the frantic radio call by detective Sen-Constable Nicole Jackson to police communications.

“Charlie 500 urgent,’’ she said. The communications operator calls her back but gets no response. She tries two more times before warning other police the job was now a “code 1’. “Shots fired, shots fired. Urgent. Officer down’’ she said.

The exhibits also included 000 calls to police from frightened pub patrons who saw the holdup unfolding but managed to escape.

Another has the chilling conversation between McAvoy and an undercover officer in the cells of Southport’s police watch house.

“I’m looking at a long time,’’ McAvoy told her undercover cellmate, as if it were a badge of honour. “Pac Pines. Armed robbery.’’

A dazed sounding McAvoy told her cellmate her accomplice opened fire at Sen-Constable Leeding, claiming he was “cornered’’.

“You don’t know what you’re going to do in a situation like that,’’ McAvoy said. “He’s f . . . shot his way out.’’

McAvoy continued: “F… oath mate. Just as we were walking out the f . . . door, didn’t know there were f . . . coppers there and they’re supposed to f . . . announce themselves.’’

Another man told police how he was followed by what police believe was a car without its headlights on. Detectives believe it was getaway driver, Benjamin Ernest Power, 39, and McAvoy’s partner of three years.

“I just walked into the pub at Pac Pines and it’s being held up.

“There’s guys with guns, everything,’’ he said.

“There’s a car following me with its lights turned off…’’

 

Earlier, Phillip Graeme Abell refused to stand for a judge and flipped him the bird as a jury yesterday found he and Donna Lee McAvoy guilty of the murder of Gold Coast policeman Damian Leeding.

Detective Senior Constable Leeding, 35, left behind his wife Sonya and two young children, Grace and Hudson, when he was shot in the face at close range as he responded to a Gold Coast tavern robbery in May 2011.

Outside court yesterday, his father-in-law Garry O’Brien could finally utter the words he had been waiting to say: “We’ve got the bastards”.

It was a reference to a comment from his son-in-law, who before his death told Mr O’Brien “we’re going to get the bastards” as they watched news footage together of escalating armed robberies on the Gold Coast.

“I think I can strongly say on behalf of the family, we can finally say to Damo, Rest In Peace,” Mr O’Brien said.

Sen-Constable Leeding’s mother Julie Waters said her son would be remembered by those who loved him as “a true hero”.

“Damian was doing his job and his life was taken without regard for him or his family,” she said.

It took a jury in the Supreme Court of Brisbane less than three hours to return its verdict, finding Abell and McAvoy guilty of the detective’s shooting murder.

The decision came after a two-week trial and was met with cheers, applause and tears from the packed public gallery in court 11.

A grim-faced and heavily tattooed Abell, 41, and co-offender McAvoy, 39, who sobbed with her face buried in her hands, will be sentenced by Justice James Douglas on Friday with getaway driver Benjamin Ernest Power, 39.

Power pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this month.

Power, McAvoy’s lover, did not face trial when his plea of guilty to manslaughter was accepted by the Crown earlier this month.

McAvoy and Abell disguised themselves with padding and wore T-shirts over their heads when they raided the Pacific Pines Tavern, tying up terrified hostages and holding a gun to their heads.

They stole $16,048 in coins and notes as Power waited outside the tavern as a lookout, using a two-way radio to alert those inside to the arrival of police.

Sen-Constable Leeding and partner, detective Sen-Constable Nicole Jackson, were the first on the scene and ran to foil their escape.

Grainy CCTV footage showed Abell and McAvoy lugging 70kg worth of stolen coins out a sliding door and down a ramp seconds before the shotgun was fired.

Out of view, the weapon’s muzzle flash lit up the night and felled the detective where he stood.

Sen-Constable Leeding suffered more than 50 injuries to his head and face when the shotgun pellets struck him. He managed to fire three times but missed when his Glock pistol jammed on the fourth. He suffered catastrophic brain injuries and died in the Gold Coast Hospital when his life support was switched off on June 1.

McAvoy and Abell abandoned their sports bag laden with cash and fled into bushland, where they were caught soon after.

Assistant Commissioner Paul Wilson said Sen-Constable Leeding had bravely made a “supreme sacrifice”.

“It’s a reality check as to what police officers do every day in the community,” he said.

“They go to work to protect the public, as the brave Damian Leeding did on that particular night…’’

Police Union president Ian Leavers said the murder was “outright and callous’’ and denounced Abell’s conduct in court for its “complete contempt’’.

“As the jury found out, we have a person who callously murdered a young man in the prime of his life and nothing has changed since the 29th of May, 2011,’’ he said.

He said the verdict was right but it would never bring Sen-Constable Leeding back or let him see his children grow up.