Four teenage girls have been sentenced over the manslaughter of a woman in Warrawong. Photo: Sang Hyun Cho, Pixabay.
Four children have been sentenced over a brawl at Warrawong that resulted in the death of a woman.
Justice Richard Cavanagh presided over the Supreme Court trial of the four teenage girls who pleaded guilty to manslaughter after 39-year-old Kristie McBride was stabbed to death in late 2023.
The court heard that on 22 November, 2023, four girls, all aged 14 or 15, arrived at a home where Kristie, her 38-year-old sister Carly McBride, and six teens were.
Their arrival wasn’t unexpected; there had been a falling out between some members of the two groups.
The teens were part of a group chat made up of “insults and threats”, Justice Cavanagh said.
Justice Cavanagh emphasised that both groups of children were equally aggressive in their comments, and both groups seemed eager for a physical fight.
The four girls, known to the court as TH, KT, LT and DR, used the chat to schedule a fight between the two groups.
The agreed facts tendered to the court explained how events unfolded.
KT, LT and DR then purchased knives from Coles in Wollongong, and later provided one to TH.
When the other group didn’t show, they travelled to a Warrawong home shortly before 6:30 pm.
When the four girls arrived, Kristie, Carly and the children with them were in the backyard.
The Warrawong group was armed with a metal baseball bat, tins of cat food in a sock, a plank of wood and another, unidentified object.
A brawl began; parts were captured on video, which was tendered to the court.
During the fight, Kristie approached LT.
Images tendered to the court show LT raised both arms folded out in front of herself at face height.
TH then stepped forward towards Kristie. TH had a kitchen knife in her right hand.
TH thrust the knife at Kristie’s head, causing two lacerations.
Shortly afterwards, TH moved backwards and Kristie moved towards her.
TH then stabbed Kristie in the lower stomach three times in quick succession; KT and LT were standing on the grass beside the road a few metres away.
DR continued to struggle with and strike another young person, before another pair of teens struck DR in the head repeatedly with a piece of timber.
The combatants gradually backed off from one another and Kristie, and some of the other children began to walk back home.
Kristie was bleeding and holding her wound. She was recorded saying, “That little **** stabbed me” shortly before she collapsed in the front yard of her home.
Emergency services were called. Kristie was taken to Wollongong Hospital by ambulance and placed in an induced coma.
At 6:20 pm on 1 December, 2023, she was declared dead as a result of stab wounds.
Justice Cavanagh said Kristie’s death caused considerable pain to her family.
“She is sorely missed,” he said.
“Her death has brought about considerable and significant feelings of anguish, grief, and loss.”
TH, KT, LT and DR were arrested and charged.
Although TH delivered the blows that resulted in Kristie’s death, the court found the four girls acted as a group, and were jointly responsible for the stabbing.
All four pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Justice Cavanagh said that, despite the threats made in the group chat, he did not believe any of the teens meant to kill anyone.
He said the threats were “grandiose, overstated and vile … they reflected an intention to hurt”.
He said when TH swung the knife at Kristie, she believed Kristie was armed and attacking her friend.
“I accept that TH perceived that there was a need to defend LT and herself,” Justice Cavanagh said.
“The force she used was not excessive to a high degree.
“The use of the knife by TH that second and third time demonstrated the use of unreasonable force in trying to defend herself or LT but … it was not extremely so.”
TH already had a history of violent crime, and was subject to two probation orders at the time of the brawl.
Justice Cavanagh said TH’s childhood was characterised by instability and abuse.
He said she showed little remorse or concern about Kristie and continued to demonstrate violent behaviour while in custody; however, she has begun to engage in education and counselling services.
Justice Cavanagh sentenced TH to four years, three months’ imprisonment for manslaughter, with a non-parole period of two years and three months, backdated to her arrest. She will be eligible for parole in February, and her sentence will expire in 2028.
Justice Cavanagh said KT only pulled her knife in the fight after Carly McBride swung a bat at her.
She also had a history of violent crime, and was in breach of bonds in place at the time of the fight.
Justice Cavanagh said KT also experienced “significant disadvantage and trauma” during childhood.
He said he was concerned about her prospects of rehabilitation, as KT had continued to be involved in violent altercations during her time in custody.
Justice Cavanagh sentenced KT to three years’ imprisonment for manslaughter, with a non-parole period of one year and 10 months, backdated to December 2023.
Her term will expire on 12 December, 2026.
Justice Cavanagh said LT’s role in the fight was identical to KT’s.
She also had a criminal history, which included violence and, while on bail for the Warrawong brawl, committed a further, unrelated assault on a child.
Her early childhood was spent in a violent home before she was placed in residential and group care homes from the age of 11; she began to abuse alcohol and other substances in the following years.
Justice Cavanagh was also concerned about LT’s prospects for rehabilitation.
He sentenced her to two years and 10 months’ imprisonment in a juvenile facility. She will be eligible for parole on 25 June, 2026.
Justice Cavanagh said DR did not initiate any violence, although she was engaged in the brawl.
She has a limited criminal history, and was the only one of the group not in state care at the time. She continues to live with her family.
DR has engaged with several support services and education since the offending took place, and has not offended further.
Justice Cavanagh found she was the only one of the group of four girls to express genuine remorse, and showed good prospects for rehabilitation.
DR was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order that began on 19 December, 2025.
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