Paranoid dad who kept a sawn-off shotgun under his bed is jailed for five years after his three-year-old daughter was accidentally shot and killed
- A father who kept a saw-off shotgun under his bed has been jailed for five years
- His three-year-old daughter was accidentally shot and killed with the weapon
- The 46-year-old, who can't be named, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in March
A father has been jailed after his daughter was fatally shot with his sawn-off shotgun.
The girl was killed after the shotgun was fired inside a Lalor Park home, near Blacktown in Sydney's western suburbs, in August 2017.
Her 46-year-old father, who can't be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on March 4.
The man could be released as soon as September, Nine News reported.
The three-year-old girl (pictured) who was tragically killed after a gun had been left out in the house
The Parramatta District Court previously heard about the moment the victim's mum discovered her daughter's body.
The woman, 44, had believed she could protect her children from their father's reckless and unhinged behaviour, but tragedy struck when they found a shotgun he had stashed in a bedroom, the court heard.
In mid-2017, the woman had returned to her Lalor Park home to find it had been boarded up by the man, who has a history of mental illness and drug use, in a haze of paranoia.
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Pictured: Emergency crews on the scene at Lalor Park, Sydney's western suburbs, in 2017
In a statement to the court, the mother described how she had been putting the children to bed and had been in her son's bedroom while the man and his brother were outside in the driveway when the gunshot rang out.
'I remember the gunshot and seeing my baby girl lying face down and not really knowing what was happening at the time but the scene echoes in my head and my thoughts to this day,' the woman said, according to The Daily Telegraph.
'I remember turning my baby girl over and seeing her lifeless eyes and there being so much blood everywhere.'
The woman had previously taken out an AVO against the man, who was well known to authorities, but had been 'manipulated' into letting him move back into their family house before the tragedy.
The court heard how the man, whose other brother had been shot in 2001, was convinced shadowy figures were lurking about his house, with the paranoia leading to the boarding up of the property and stashing of the sawn-off shotgun.
The man's barrister said on the night of the girl's death in his delusional state his client had not left the shotgun between two mattresses too heavy for the children to lift as he believed he had.
Police were unable to confirm exactly how the shotgun went off but on theory is that another of the young children might have retrieved the weapon from under the bed and accidentally fired it.
The Parramatta District Court previously heard about the moment the victim's mum discovered her daughter's body. The woman was 41-years-old at the time of the tragedy (pictured with her daughter and three sons)
Judge Stephen Hanley SC asked the man's legal team what he should make of someone with a history of mental illness who had chosen to take psychosis-inducing illicit drugs.
He said the shooting had torn apart the family with the remaining young children taken away from their mother.
In her victim impact statement, the woman said she 'collapses inside' whenever she thinks about her daughter, has nightmares every day, and often jolts awake when she is able to fall asleep.
The biggest impact, she said, however, was the loss of her 'beautiful baby girl'.
'She would be at school now if she was still alive … I used to dream of the day she would grow into a beautiful young woman and live out her dreams. I see little girls everywhere that look like her and my heart hurts,' she said.
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