'I thought we were home safe': Celeste Manno's mother fights for law changes - The Age

The grieving mother of Celeste Manno has called for laws around stalking and intervention orders to be strengthened following the death of her daughter.

Aggie Di Mauro has vowed to fight for justice for other stalking victims after her 23-year-old daughter was stabbed to death at their Mernda home on November 17.

Ms Manno had been at home with her mother early when her alleged killer smashed through her bedroom window and stabbed her.

Former colleague Luay Sako, 35, has been charged with murder. Mr Sako had allegedly been stalking Ms Manno in the year prior to her death.

Her family says Ms Manno went to police with concerns she was being stalked and an intervention order was in place at the time of her death.

On the steps of Parliament House on Wednesday, an emotional Ms Di Mauro said that the first time she had gone with Celeste to the police about her concerns, they were told no action could be taken.

Celeste Manno's mother, Aggie Di Mauro and brother, Alessandro.Credit:Eddie Jim

"It’s not that it wasn't taken seriously, it was more like, 'OK, there's no criminal offence. He's not threatening your life. Maybe just stop using social media'. Which Celeste was never going to accept. She was never going to accept that someone was going to dictate how she lived her life," she said.

"The second time [we went to police], that constable took it very seriously because the message he read was appalling, disgusting. So he took it very seriously."

An interim intervention order was then put in place, however there was an alleged breach several months later. Mr Sako was arrested, charged and released on summons, Ms Di Mauro said.

"When that breach happened we did wonder, 'Should we still have this in place?' And the instructions to us were ‘very much so’, because they wouldn't be able to protect her otherwise.

"And of course, our only concern was there's a real concern of retaliation now. And that's exactly what happened," she said.

Ms Di Mauro said that Celeste's employer Serco was aware of the stalking allegations and she was always accompanied to her car.

Celeste was constantly concerned about being followed home, always checking her rearview mirrors, however she didn't believe that Mr Sako knew her home address.

"She was confident that no-one had followed her. Because she was confident no-one had followed her, our safety concerns were never in the home," Ms Di Mauro said.

Celeste Manno's mother, Aggie Di Mauro, clutches a pillow with a photo of her daughter.Credit:Eddie Jim

"So you know when this happened, she went to bed like any other Sunday night, she had work the next morning. I tucked her in like any other night. She left her bedroom door open that night, because it was a warm night. And the last thing I expected hours later was waking up to what I heard. And being too late.

"We thought we were safe at home, but clearly we weren't."

Ms Di Mauro said that her main goal was now to fight to ensure others are protected.

She believes tracking devices should be used to alert police and the victims that alleged offenders are closeby and that offenders should have mandatory behavioural change therapy or counselling to deal with their issues if they breach intervention orders.

"I’m meeting with the Attorney-General today and I need to somehow get through to her this is not a matter of yes, let’s table it and look at it when we can or in a few years. How many more girls, guys, anyone, has to die first and how many more parents have to live with this?

A petition created after the death of Celeste Manno has garnered more than 8000 signatures. Credit:Facebook

"I'll be telling her, whatever the system has in place, there may be laws and legislations out there but they're not being enforced, they’re not protecting anybody. So that needs to be looked at. The consequences for breaching these orders are laughable."

Ms Di Mauro described her daughter as a happy-go-lucky young woman who had "plenty of dreams".

"She was preparing years in advance for when she was going to get her own little apartment and screenshotting everything she saw in magazines and how it was going to look. Showing me the wedding dresses she would look at one day when she was ready to get married," she said.

"I want him to know … he didn’t take just her life away," she said. "He's ruined a beautiful rapport she had with her brother because they've always been inseparable.

A treasured family photo of Celeste Manno with her younger brother Alessandro. Credit:Facebook

"And to me, from the minute she'd leave for work in the morning where I would look at her and say you look beautiful … to the minute when she'd come home where I could just wrap my arms around her every single night. And that's just gone."

A petition to strengthen laws around stalking sparked by Celeste's death was tabled in State Parliament on Tuesday after it garnered more than 8000 signatures.

The petition was tabled by Justice Party MP Tania Maxwell, who on Wednesday said the enforcement around stalking and intervention orders were "an absolute disgrace".

Aggie Di Mauro at the funeral for her daughter Celeste last week. Credit:Jason South

"This makes me so angry. I can't begin to imagine how Celeste’s Mum and [brother] Alessandro feel when I'm just a bystander and I am furious. Many other women have come to me and feel exactly the same, that this is not good enough, stalking charges need to be taken seriously," she said.

The petition was created by a friend of Ms Manno in the days after her death.

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2020-12-08 23:53:00Z
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