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There is something incredibly dangerous about group mentality when people begin taking cues from those around them. One person does something cruel, while another laughs & someone else takes things a little further until suddenly, what would normally be seen as unthinkable behavior becomes acceptable within the group.
No one wants to be the person who speaks up, challenges their friends or ruins the mood. And sometimes, all it takes is enough people doing nothing to stop the situation for the worst person in the room to feel completely empowered.
On the evening of Friday, November 3, 1989, 14-year-old Leigh Leigh was so excited to attend her first nighttime party with her classmates. The gathering was being held along the Tasmanian Sea in New South Wales, Australia. Although she promised her mom & stepdad, Brad, that the party was going to be supervised by adults & that she would be waiting at their agreed-upon pickup spot at 11 pm sharp, Leigh wasn’t there when they came by to collect her.
What they had no way of knowing at the time was that during the hours of what should have been a typical, fun teenage party, Leigh had been the target of something horrifying. Her case highlights hive mentality & what people can be capable of doing within a group. What one person might hesitate to do alone, can change & escalate when they see others around them doing something they would otherwise see as unacceptable & cruel.
Leigh Leigh wasn’t born with the same first & last name, she was actually born Leigh Rennea Mears on July 24, 1975 to parents Robyn Maunsell & Robert Mears. Their relationship was tumultuous & between the ages of 4-7-years-old, Leigh lived with her grandma until her parent’s marriage ultimately ended in divorce.
After her divorce, Robyn began a relationship with a man who had the same last name as her daughter’s first name. In 1983 when Leigh was 8-years-old, the couple had a baby girl named Jessie together. Since Leigh wanted to share the same last name as her little sister, she had her name legally changed to Leigh Leigh.
Even after Robyn & this man broke up, Leigh chose to keep the last name since she found it so unique.
By 1986, Robyn, Leigh & Jessie were living in a house on Fullerton Street in Fern Bay on the east coast of Australia along the Tasmanian Sea about two hours north of Sydney in New South Wales. Here, Robyn met & married a local man named Brad Shearman.
At the time of Leigh’s death in 1989, she was a year eight student at New Castle High School & according to her grandma, she was a great student who enjoyed school. Leigh spent most of her weekends at her grandma’s house 45 minutes away in Kilaben Bay. She was a typical teen who loved spending time with her cousin, Tracey, who also happened to be her best friend. They loved to go to the movies together, rollerskate & just hang out & catch up.
Although as a teenager, Leigh did have a bit of a rebellious streak with her parents, she was a sweet girl who deeply cared for her family. She dreamed of one day becoming a veterinarian.
Leigh was so excited when she got an invitation to Jason Robertson’s 16th birthday party. He was a year 10 student at New Castle High School who was hosting his party at the North Stockton Surf Club at Stockton Beach. It was a one-story red brick building along the water that was available for rental for various gatherings.
Robyn & Brad were initially hesitant to allow their daughter to attend since the invitation had not only listed the party as an all-night event, but it also made mention of bring your own, which suggested that alcohol would be present.
Being a persuasive teen, Leigh assured her parents that the party was going to have adult supervision & she promised to follow their rules. She hoped this would open the door to future high school parties & gatherings if she earned their trust.
Leigh planned to be ready for pick-up at 11 pm sharp at the surf club & Robyn made it clear that if this didn’t happen, she wouldn’t be allowed to attend an upcoming dance she was really looking forward to.
On the warm, late spring evening of Friday, November 3, 1989, Robyn dropped her daughter off at 7 pm at a local teenage spot, Roberto’s Pizza Bar. Leigh was meeting up with two of her friends there & the three planned to walk the 2 km/1.25 miles over to the surf club where the party was being held.
Moving forward three hours, when Brad arrived at the surf club to pick his stepdaughter up at 10:50 pm, there was no sign of Leigh. Although he looked for her for about an hour, he remained unable to find her so he headed back home to let Robyn know that Leigh had failed her first teenage party test.
He decided to go back to the beach once again to search for her a second time which is when he found intoxicated teens milling around the surf club as well as down by the water. It was a chaotic scene with many of them stumbling around, in various states of undress. Some were vomiting in the bushes or passed out on the sand.
He also saw about 15-16 cases of beer as well as kids smoking marijuana. Brad came to learn that the so-called adult supervision had come in the form of an 18 & 19-year-old who were serving as bouncers in exchange for beer.
When he asked kids about Leigh & where she might be, no one was able to give him a coherent answer. One suggested that she may have gone home early.
Thinking that maybe she did walk or get a ride home while he was out, Brad headed back home, but Leigh wasn’t there so he drove around town before heading back to the beach club where the party was starting to thin down.
Still unable to find Leigh by 2 am, he went back home to retrieve his 3-wheeler so he could more easily search along the shoreline. Still finding no sign of her, he headed back home with the assumption that Leigh must have gone back to spend the night with a friend.
Both Brad & Robyn were very disappointed that Leigh hadn’t followed through with her promise which meant that she wouldn’t be able to attend her upcoming dance.
When Leigh still wasn’t home in the morning, while Robyn called around to her daughter’s friends, Brad went back down to the surf club at 9:15 am. He noticed a group of teens standing on the beach, gathered together, talking animately & staring down at something on the sand below.
As he rushed over, he could have never prepared himself for what he found. Leigh was sprawled out on the sand, naked with her legs spread apart. She was nearly unrecognizable as her face was covered in blood while a 6 kg/13 pound bloodied rock lay in the grassy brush about 13 feet away from her body.
She still wore her socks & shoes, but her alcohol-stained sweater & bra were inside out & lying nearby while her shorts & underwear had been pulled down & remained attached to her right ankle.
According to her autopsy, while Leigh had suffered severe genital trauma, there was no semen found in her body. Her cause of death was from a fractured skull as well as injury to the brain after she was struck at least three times in the head. There were fingertip pressure marks around her neck as well as asphyxial injuries that suggest she had been choked before she died. She’d also sustained multiple injuries to her jaw, ribs, liver & right kidney.
With a blood alcohol level of 0.128, Leigh would have likely been very clumsy with impaired judgement, a slower reaction time as well as impaired memory, vision & hearing. Still tucked in her pocket was the invitation to Jason’s party that she had been so excited to attend.
Leigh’s funeral was held six days after the party on November 9, 1989 with her biological father, Robert Mears, as well as her stepdad, Brad Shearman, acting as pallbearers. One of her favorite songs by Sher, If I Could Turn Back Time, was played as a large gathering of mourners, many of which were Leigh’s friends, were present.
The 14-year-old was laid to rest at Stockton General Cemetery where her gravesite was marked with a heart-shaped headstone that read, within our hearts, memories of you will live on forever.
After her funeral, gossip, rumors & allegations only escalated while nearly everyone around town had their own idea as to who was responsible for her murder. Fights between teen boys ramped up as they each accused the other of speaking with police.
When the Newcastle Police had done a routine check of the party at 8:30 pm, they found it under control at that point. It was their goal to identify each & every person who had been at the party in order to put a picture together as to the events leading up to Leigh’s death.
When they spoke with nearby residents, although the party had mostly sounded subdued, some had heard the sound of a girl screaming while a man swore loudly before everything got quiet.
When reporters from the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper spoke with some of Leigh’s friends who hadn’t been at the party, they described her as a very pretty girl who often attracted the attention of boys. No one could wrap their heads around young kids doing something so barbaric & violent to an innocent teenage girl.
When officers spoke with the owner of Roberto’s Pizza Bar, who was familiar with many of the party attendees, he described them as generally responsible, seemingly good kids.
It’s estimated that somewhere around 60 people attended the party while numbers as high as 100 were reported by the media. The majority of the kids present were year 10 students from Newcastle High School who were two years older than Leigh, many of which were drinking alcohol & smoking weed while some couples were even having sex.
Investigators spoke with over 50 teens between 13-18-years-old who described a very wild event while some present had been as young as 10-years-old.
It was immediately clear that witnesses were very reluctant to discuss what had gone on, fearful they would get their friends in trouble. Many had also been under the influence of drugs & alcohol which made their recollections hazy while some just flat out refused to say what happened, lied altogether & provided the police with three different versions of events.
The area of Stockton was generally distrustful of law enforcement in general which made the investigation that much more challenging. When officers spoke with attendees’ parents, they were equally as hesitant due to blatant disinterest or to protect their children.
According to Detective Sergeant Lance Chaffee of the North Region Crime Squad Homicide Unit, although they were looking at 60 suspects, only two parents bothered to contact them for assistance as to what their child may have witnessed. He theorized that they may have felt a sense of guilt in letting their child attend such a wild, unsupervised event.
Over time, investigators began to assemble a timeline of events from witnesses piece-by-piece after they felt reassured that their friends wouldn’t know that they had talked to police. Authorities learned that after Leigh had been dropped off at Roberto’s, she met two of her friends as planned, as well as a third friend who brought along a bottle of bourbon.
Leigh had been a young, inexperienced drinker who quickly consumed ½ of the bottle that she mixed with Coca-Cola, even before they arrived at the surf club. By the time they did arrive, she was very impaired, stumbling around & slurring her words.
Although she had told her parents that adults would be present, this came in the form of 18-year-old Matthew Webster & 19-year-old Guy Wilson, who served as the party’s bouncers. Witnesses later told police that underage girls like Leigh had been specifically invited to the party with the goal of getting them intoxicated so the boys could have sex with them.
After she showed her invitation to so-called bouncer, 18-year-old Matt Webster, he marked her arm with a green marker & allowed her inside where the party was just getting started. Since he weighed 110 kg/243 pounds, Matt was known around town as Fatt Matt. Days after the party, he told reporters that since there was little for teens to do at night around town, the party had been a perfect opportunity for them to let loose.
Birthday boy Jason Robertson admitted that alcohol had been involved, but he argued that it had been minimal as most of it had been taken by his older friends. He told investigators that Leigh had a couple of drinks, but most of them were just drinking Coke. He complained that because her murder happened at his party, the whole town was whispering about him which left him confined to his house.
When police had done their check that Friday night at 8:30 pm, the teens had concealed their alcohol behind the sand dunes to make it appear as an innocent, calm gathering.
According to some of the female attendees, right around 9 pm, Leigh left the surf club to walk down by the water & she may have been accompanied by a 15-year-old male. According to witnesses, she was so intoxicated at this point that she basically needed to be carried.
This 15-year-old boy, who has remained unnamed & is referred to as NC1 in official documentation, was quoted saying, I’m going to f**k Leigh before they went down toward the water together.
When Leigh came back from the beach a short time later, she was crying hysterically, bleeding from between her legs & telling two of her friends that she had been raped while voicing concern that she could be pregnant. In reference to NC1, she said, I hate him. Her friends sat her down at a table to calm her down, but because she was so intoxicated, they weren’t sure how reliable her story was. Although they offered to call her parents, Leigh said she didn’t want them to.
Upon hearing what Leigh had said, 18-year-old “bouncer” Matt Webster disparaged her in front of a group, calling her a slut, saying that they should all have a go with her. The police report indicated that earlier in the night, he had told another guest that they were planning on getting Leigh drunk so they could all go through her.
Since the legal drinking age in Australia is 18-years-old, he & 19-year-old Guy Wilson supplied the party with alcohol.
Guy Wilson, who also served as a bouncer that night, approached Leigh at this point, put his arm around her & asked her to have sex with him. When she refused, he pushed her to the ground while Matt & about ten other boys gathered around & for about five minutes, they spat saliva & beer on her, called her disparaging names & kicked her as she lay on the ground.
Although several people saw what was happening, no one came to Leigh’s rescue, contacted the police or other adults.
When Leigh finally managed to stand up & stagger away, she picked up a beer bottle & threw it at the boys, but missed. In retaliation, Guy picked up another bottle & threw it back at Leigh, hitting her in the leg.
When she went inside the surf club, there were about 40 kids milling about while the boys from outside followed her inside. After she vomited, similar assaults continued inside until about 10:15 pm when Leigh was last seen leaving the club & walking toward the beach.
Newspaper reports indicated that Leigh had been raped multiple times by more than one person, but they weren’t sure if her rape & murder was linked. Several stories made mention of a boys-will-be-boys mentality that was strong in the 1980s & discussed the prevalence of gang rapes in small industrial towns such as Stockton. In these locations, victims of sex crimes faced scrutiny & blame for having done something to bring it upon themselves rather than those who were responsible for the assault.
Some victims were quoted as keeping their own sexual assaults quiet for fear of being blamed or from shame, especially if they had been under the influence at the time.
Leigh always had a very open & honest relationship with her mom & she told Robyn that she planned on being a virgin until she was 16. According to post-mortem results, she had been a virgin. Although she had been the victim of extreme sexual violence before her murder, some locals attempted to shift the blame on Leigh, one telling a reporter that although it had been a terrible thing, she was known to sleep around.
As the names of the young men who publicly assaulted & humiliated Leigh were shared around town, many locals expected that they would be charged for their actions. People were also enraged when they learned that although boys & girls at the party had seen what was happening to Leigh, no one stepped in to help her in any way. In the aftermath, nearly all of them refused to assist in the investigation.
Parents warned their sons to keep quiet & began forming different versions of events. They claimed that it had been Leigh who had gotten drunk & willingly had sex with the boys while witnesses who were honest with the police were ostracized, bullied & attacked.
Some residents of Stockton hoped that everything would just fizzle away, viewing what happened as nothing more than a tragedy that arose from a party that had gotten out of hand. Other community members who were outraged & wanted justice for Leigh, hung posters around town that depicted a drawing of three male figures, one of which held a rock above a cowering girl. The image included text that read, Shame Stockton, Shame: dob the gutless bastards in (dob is Australian slang meaning, report someone to authorities).
Twelve days after Leigh’s murder, on November 15, 1989, 18-year-old Matthew Webster, 19-year-old Guy Wilson & 15-year-old NC1 were taken down to the Newcastle Police Station & ultimately charged for things that happened during the party, none of which included a charge for Leigh’s rape or murder.
NC1 admitted that he & Leigh had sex that night, but he claimed that she had initiated the walk to the beach as well as the sex.
Matt claimed that he left the party early to get a drink at a pub before he met up with friends at Roberto’s. Not only had he & Guy supplied the party with the alcohol, but also marijuana.
When Matt’s story about going to the pub didn’t check out, he admitted that he poured a beer on Leigh, but denied having anything to do with her sexual assault or murder. Guy Wilson initially denied doing anything, but later said that he pushed Leigh, poured a beer on her, spat at her & also threw a beer bottle at her.
NC1 was charged with sexual intercourse with a child between the ages of 10-16 as well as supplying marijuana while Matt Webster & Guy Wilson were each charged with common assault in regards to the group attack on Leigh as well as supplying marijuana to two teens.
Since NC1 was underage, he was released to his parents while Matt & Guy were held in custody overnight before they were released on a $1,000 bail the following day.
On February 28, 1990, after pleading guilty to having sex with someone under the age of consent, NC1 was given the maximum sentence of six months in a detention center. However, less than three months later on May 11, the sentence was reduced on an appeal to 100 hours of community service for carnal knowledge, meaning, he engaged in sexual intercourse with a minor under the legal age of consent.
Despite the fact that many witnesses indicated that Leigh had been intoxicated to the point that she could barely walk, the boy maintained that Leigh had initiated the sex & it had been consensual.
When news spread that the judge had ruled the sexual intercourse between this boy & Leigh as consensual, public opinion of Leigh within her hometown was scathing. She was depicted as a young girl with loose morals who was referred to as a good time girl & the town bike.
On March 19, 1990, Guy Wilson was sentenced to six months for assaulting Leigh while Matthew Webster pleaded guilty to his charges of assault as well as supplying the party with cannabis. After he was released on bail, his sentencing was scheduled for February 21, 1990.
Rather than placing the blame on the male perpetrators & others who participated in her attack or did nothing to help Leigh, blame was actually placed on her for ruining the lives of those who had been held responsible for the crimes associated with her assault.
As time went on, rumors only continued while some began to point the finger at Leigh’s own stepdad, Brad Shearman, accusing him of carrying on a sexual relationship with his stepdaughter even before her death.
According to the rumor, when Brad found Leigh on the beach on the night of the party, he exploded in rage & murdered her after she told him about her sexual encounter with NC1. Despite the fact that there was absolutely no evidence to support this theory, the police viewed Brad as a suspect based on the persistent rumors.
An aerial photo that was taken by a police helicopter of the surf club that was adjacent to the beach, depicted tire tracks all along the shoreline that were made by Brad’s motorbike while he was out desperately searching for his stepdaughter.
As tensions remained high among the community, four boys taunted Matt Webster in the street about Leigh’s murder on January 28, 1990. He erupted in anger, grabbing one of the boys, smashing his head through a car windshield before repeatedly slamming him to the ground. He was fined $250 for this offense.
Only days later on January 31, Brad Shearman was charged with assault after he punched Guy Wilson when he threatened that 6-year-old Jessie Leigh would suffer a similar fate to that of her older sister. On July 17, he was given a 12-month good behavior bond & the judge didn’t record a conviction, indicating that he had been provoked into attacking Wilson.
Robyn was also relentlessly harassed as people believed that had she not moved into town with her daughter, none of this would be happening. Jessie was even mistreated by other students in her kindergarten class which prompted Robyn to remove her from that school.
On February 16, 1990, days before Matthew Webster’s sentencing for the assault & marijuana charges, he & Guy Wilson were placed together in an interview room at the Newcastle Police Station. After about an hour, they were taken from the interview room & questioned separately.
During Matt’s interview, he suddenly confessed to Leigh’s murder. He told officers that when he went down to the beach to get his beer, he couldn’t find it so he assumed someone had taken it. This was when he noticed Leigh sitting down by the grass. After they walked down to the bushes, he pulled her clothes off & tried to have sex with her, but she started pushing him away, saying, don’t.
Matt claimed that because Leigh was punching & pushing him, he grabbed her by the throat & choked her a bit. When she stopped punching, he grabbed a rock & killed her. Afterwards, he ran to a nearby boat ramp to wash the blood from his hands before sprinting along the backstreets. He met up with other party attendees at Roberto’s & told them he’d left the party early to go to the Stockton Hotel for a beer.
After his confession, Matthew Webster was charged with Leigh Leigh’s murder & sexual assault. He told police officers that he wished that he could go back in time so that none of it ever happened. Because of the serious nature of his crimes, he was denied bail & remained in custody.
Despite his full confession, some members of the community rallied around him while the mistreatment of Leigh’s family continued. Their home was often broken into while boys from the party would swear & spit at Robyn when she was out in town.
The stress on the family was so overwhelming that Leigh’s biological father Robert attempted suicide in September 1990 while her stepfather Brad spent a week in a mental health facility. He was unable to erase the horrific image from his mind of Leigh’s battered & brutalized body lying in the sand & he struggled to cope with being viewed as a suspect.
Because of the strain on their relationship, Robyn & Brad separated while the town remained split between those who saw Leigh as the cause of the issues vs. those who pointed the finger at the male perpetrators.
Since the word rape had not been included in any of the charges that were filed in relation to the crime, it gave people the idea that the sex acts committed against Leigh had been consensual. They went on to say that the sweater, tank top, shorts & gym shoes she wore that night were revealing, thus inviting trouble.
Matthew Webster pleaded guilty to Leigh Leigh’s murder on October 24, 1990 while the sexual assault charges against him were dropped because his confession didn’t align with the physical evidence & prosecutors solely focused on securing a murder conviction.
While Matt told the police that he only penetrated Leigh with his finger, her autopsy revealed severe genital trauma that had been inflicted by a rigid, blunt object, possibly a broken beer bottle.
For 12 months, Robyn had been assured that the full truth of what happened to her daughter that night would come out in the trial yet that clearly did not happen.
Justice James Roland Wood sentenced Matthew Webster to 20 years with a non-parole period of 14 years. During his sentencing, he spoke of Matt as someone who generally had a reputation of being shy, gentle & polite, although lacking self-confidence which made the murder out-of-character for him. He was referred to as a gentle giant who was an unfortunate victim of uncharacteristic & impulsive ferocity whilst disinhibited by alcohol & drugs.
The tone of what was said suggested that Leigh Leigh had not been raped, something that devestated her family. When Robyn later spoke with ABC Radio, she said that according to Detective Sergeant Lance Chaffey, Leigh had been gang raped & it was his belief that NC1 had also raped her, but it was his word against a dead person. He also told her that she had no say in whether others should be charged in her daughter’s murder or rape. He allegedly threatened that if she told anyone about their conversation, it would be her word against his & he was a respected officer while she was a single mother.
Three years after her daughter’s murder, Robyn had no choice but to leave Stockton, unable to handle the ongoing harassment, gossip & public shaming that was directed at her & her family on a daily basis.
Associate Professor Kerry Carrington, formerly of the University of Newcastle, is a criminologist who spent years examining every aspect of Leigh’s case & became an outspoken advocate of Leigh & her family. It’s her belief that more than one person was involved in her murder & feels that the violence & degradation against her had escalated over the course of the evening.
She wrote that Newcastle culture seemed to have a high level of tolerance for sexual violence among its adolescent population. She referenced the fact that Justice Wood made no reference whatsoever about the sexual violence that Leigh endured prior to her murder during Matthew Webster’s trial. Rather, there was more focus on sexual promiscuity as well as the lack of parental supervision at the party. He also diminished the collective violence that was inflicted on Leigh during the party just prior to her murder.
Robyn felt such a sense of relief that Professor Carrington had stood up for her daughter as she had spent years fighting for the truth of what really happened that night.
Professor Carrington arranged for a number of new forensic opinions on Leigh’s autopsy report as well as other case materials. One of the experts she consulted was Dr. Ruth Armstrong, a female general practitioner, who felt the injuries to Leigh’s genitals were consistent with non-consensual intercourse of an extremely violent nature while Matt indicated that he had only inserted a finger into Leigh’s body. A forensic science professor believed that the fatal head injuries were indicative of someone restraining Leigh while Matthew struck her, meaning more than one person had been involved in her murder.
Parts of Matt’s confession were also not in line with evidence from the crime scene. Although he claimed to have choked her with his left hand, the bruising on her neck was consistent with a right hand. The clothing he wore that night was also clean despite the blows to her head that caused significant blood spatter.
In May 1993, Leigh Leigh’s family were initially awarded $29,214 in victims’ compensation, but after their May 1995 appeal, Judge Joseph Moore approved an additional $134,048, bringing the total to $163,262.
During this appeal ruling, Judge Moore acknowledged that Leigh’s first sexual encounter with NC1 went beyond carnal knowledge, calling it non-consensual & rape. He admitted that when it was originally presented, the court minimized the sentence of NC1.
Leigh had been subjected to a number of criminal assaults before her violent death that began with the rape by NC1, followed by the multiple group assaults both outside & inside the surf club before the final act of violence. Judge Moore supported claims that although only Matthew confessed to Leigh’s murder, more than one person may have been involved.
In December 1996, the New South Wales Crime Commission re-investigated Leigh’s murder & other offenses. According to their findings, which were released in March 1998, despite the evidence of severe sexual trauma, they concluded that Matthew Webster had acted alone in Leigh’s murder & no further action would be taken in relation to her case.
At 33-years-old, Matthew Webster was granted parole in June 2004 after serving his minimum term of 14 years. The parole board stipulated that he was unable to live in Stockton or the larger Newcastle area for the next six years, so he moved to a halfway house in Sydney.
Within five months of his release, he was charged with assault after allegedly breaking another man’s jaw. He was sent back to prison after revoking his parole, but the charges were dismissed in April 2005 due to lack of evidence. At 55-years-old, his exact whereabouts today are unknown.
What happened to 14-year-old Leigh Leigh nearly 39 years ago was one of the most heinous crimes in recent Australia legal history. Of the large number of boys involved in assaulting & otherwise degrading Leigh shortly before her death, only one was charged with assault, while another was charged with carnal knowledge rather than rape.
Despite serious genital injuries, which one forensic expert believes was inflicted by an inflexible object such as a broken beer bottle, no one has ever been prosecuted for her rape.
On Friday night, November 3, 1989, when Leigh excitedly headed to Jason’s birthday party on the beach, she’d expected nothing more than a fun night with her classmates. Instead, she’d been humiliated, beaten, sexually assaulted & ultimately murdered.
Her case didn’t involve a single act of cruelty, rather she had been surrounded by people who were harassing her or watching it happen. Some joined in, some laughed or encouraged it while others stood by & did nothing to help her. Being part of a crowd doesn’t take away individual responsibility because every person still has a choice.
Leigh deserved someone at that party to be the person to step forward & say, enough. Instead, she became isolated in a place where she was surrounded by others. Despite the horrors of what she was subjected to, in the aftermath, it had been her behavior, what she wore & how she acted that became part of the dialog.
A person is allowed to drink too much, dress how they want & change their mind. None of these things give another human being permission to hurt them or take something that isn’t theirs to take. There is only one decision that causes a sexual assault: the decision of the perpetrator to commit it.
Nothing Leigh did that night made her responsible for being beaten, for being assaulted & for being murdered. She was a child who deserved to go home, to grow up & become something other than the 14-year-old girl whose name became permanently attached to one terrible night in Stockton.
References:
- Fern Bay, New South Wales
- Wikiwand: Murder of Leigh Leigh
- ABC: Sticks & Stones: The killing of Leigh Leigh
- Casefile True Crime – Case 143: Leigh Leigh
- Responsibility.org: Understand how BAC levels may affect you
- Queensland University of Technology: Who killed Leigh Leigh? A story of shame & mateship in an Australian town
- Operation Belfast (October 2000)
- The Age: A death in the sand, pain that lives on
