Mother and son jailed over death of NSW police officer Bryson Anderson | Australia news | The GuardianMother and son jailed over death of NSW police officer Bryson Anderson | Australia news | The Guardian










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Crime - Australia



Mother and son jailed over death of NSW police officer Bryson Anderson









Mitchell Barbieri sentenced to at least 26 years for murdering Anderson with a hunting knife following a siege at his mother’s property

















Former colleagues of slain police officer Bryson Anderson embrace as they arrive at the supreme court in Sydney on Thursday. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image



Australian Associated Press


Wednesday 17 December 2014 20.15 EST







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A young man who murdered NSW police officer Bryson Anderson with a hunting knife following a protracted siege at his mother’s Oakville property has been sentenced to at least 26 years in prison.
Mitchell Barbieri, who escaped the mandatory life sentence reserved for police killers, broke down as he was sentenced to a minimum of 26 and maximum of 35 years at the supreme court on Thursday.
His mother Fiona was sentenced to a minimum of seven years and six months for the manslaughter of the officer and other offences, including using an offensive weapon.
Anderson’s wife, brothers and parents, along with other close family and friends filled the upper gallery of the supreme court in Sydney for the pair’s sentencing.
Downstairs, Anderson’s uniformed colleagues from his local area command packed the seats to hear about his final moments.
Anderson had visited the Barbieris’ rural Oakville property in Sydney’s northwest on 6 December 2012 after reports Mitchell had been shooting arrows at his neighbour.Following a protracted siege, Mitchell lunged toward Anderson.“He plunged a hunting knife deep into the officer’s chest causing virtually immediate death,” Hulme said.On the day their trial was due to start this year, Mitchell pleaded guilty to murder while his mother Fiona pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis of substantial impairment.Fiona sat expressionless as Hulme recounted how she was once a senior executive at American Express, but by about 2008 had experienced late-onset paranoid schizophrenia.She became increasingly paranoid she was being persecuted by police and political leaders, and her life began to fall apart.By the time of Anderson’s death, Mitchell had taken on his mother’s delusions.Since being in prison, he was unable to understand what he had been thinking and was “heartbroken”, the court heard.But Hulme said although the Barbieris regretted what had happened, he was not persuaded either was genuinely remorseful because they had not accepted responsibility.Mitchell, he found, had also intended to kill Anderson that day.“Of all the weapons that he could have taken up, he chose the one most capable of inflicting a lethal injury.”But he said due to Mitchell’s cognitive impairment, he should not be subject to the mandatory life sentence reserved for people who murdered police.




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