NSW: Family speak of grief at Valentine's Day killing

AAP General News (Australia)
04-24-2008
NSW: Family speak of grief at Valentine's Day killing

By Margaret Scheikowski

SYDNEY, April 24 AAP - A grieving mother has told a judge her beloved only son was
robbed of his life by a "cowardly bully" on Valentine's Day last year.

At the sentencing hearing in the NSW Supreme Court for her son's killer, Norma Nichols
said today she wanted to see Tony Riley "pay for his crime".

Riley, 48, has been found guilty of the manslaughter of David "Glenn" Nichols, 54,
who was gunned down outside his home at Gulgong in central western NSW on February 14
last year.

Mr Nichols, a divorced father who had worked at a nearby coalmine for almost 30 years,
had been in a relationship with Riley's estranged wife Kathryn.

Riley, a real estate agent who had been suffering from depression, shot himself in
the head after killing Mr Nichols, resulting in brain damage.

Referring to the sentence she might hand down, Justice Jane Matthews said today:"The
real problem is that the Tony Riley now before the court is not the same Tony Riley who
committed this offence, and that creates very serious difficulty."

Mrs Nichols said her son's death had shattered the whole family, especially his four
children, who had lost a "loving and caring dad".

Mr Nichols' sister, Elizabeth Barton, told the court the shock of her brother's death
"just rips out your whole inner being".

"I remember him telling me the last time he stayed at my home that he was not going
to spend the rest of his life hiding from Tony Riley, there were many rumours around town
that he owned guns," she said.

She recalled placing a flower at the scene of his death and said "I do remember the
eerie feeling of evil".

Mr Nichols' other sister, Bronwyn Cochrane, said her brother had told her he cared
for Kathryn Riley's safety and wellbeing and wanted her to do whatever would bring her
happiness.

"After she had decided on her life's direction, if she had wanted to be with Glenn,
Glenn's intention was to marry Kathryn," she said.

Her brother had died "courageously defending a friend he loved", she said.

She described him as generous and caring, a loving father and a champion provider to
four children and two stepchildren.

"As Glenn's face and body were too disfigured to display, the funeral director kindly
arranged Glenn's body so that we could see his hands, they were not as we knew them, their
soft warmth gone," she said.

"That Glenn lost his life in this extremely violent way causes unimaginable pain and
grief, yet something we now live with every day.

"We are heartbroken for all, including the Riley family."

Sentencing submissions will continue on April 30.

AAP mss/wjf/goc/sp

KEYWORD: RILEY NIGHTLEAD (PIX AVAILABLE)

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