By Sarah McPhee
The public gallery of a Dubbo courtroom broke into applause as the man who “brutally and callously” murdered schoolgirl Michelle Bright and attacked another teenager was jailed for a maximum of 32 years.
Wearing her daughter’s favourite colours of purple and yellow and clutching a framed photograph outside court, Loraine Bright said she had brought Michelle for the sentence. After hearing it, she “just broke down”.
Michelle Bright was murdered by Craig Rumsby as she walked home in Gulgong.
“I’m not spiritual, but I thought, ‘bring us something, darling’,” Loraine Bright said.
“I was scared that we weren’t going to get what we wanted, but we got it.
“We’ve got the justice that we wanted.”
Craig Henry Rumsby, 56, was found guilty by a jury in June of murdering the 17-year-old in February 1999 and the attempted choking of an 18-year-old woman in January 1998 with intent to have sexual intercourse without consent.
Michelle was last seen alive when a friend dropped her off at a pub in central Gulgong after a birthday party. The year 11 student was killed as she made the three-kilometre walk home, and her body was found in long grass on the side of Barneys Reef Road three days later.
Her top was pushed over her face and her pants and underwear pulled down, the court heard. A forensic pathologist determined Michelle’s cause of death was “homicidal violence”.
Rumsby was arrested in Sydney in August 2020 after an elaborate undercover police operation during which he made admissions. There was no scientific evidence linking anyone to the murder, but Rumsby’s thongs and wallet, including his ID, were found near the scene of the other attack.
Sentencing Rumsby in the NSW Supreme Court, sitting in Dubbo, Acting Justice Robert Allan Hulme said the offender had a sexual motivation and committed “brutal violence”.
Craig Rumsby was arrested for Michelle’s murder in 2020.Credit: Nine News
“Neither crime was premeditated,” the judge said on Monday. “It seems both occurred in circumstances where the offender became aware of the victim who attracted his aberrant inclination to forced sexual activity with young women.”
Members of the public gallery began clapping as the judge indicated the sentence for Michelle’s murder was a maximum of 27 years. Hulme set a total sentence of 32 years’ imprisonment for the two crimes, with a non-parole period of 24 years.
Speaking to reporters outside court, Michelle’s brother Les Bright said the family welcomed the sentence.
“We’re extremely happy that he’s not going to get the chance to get out and hurt any more young women,” he said. “I think I speak for everybody when I say that we all hope that he rots in hell.”
The court previously heard Rumsby suffers health problems and has a reduced life expectancy.
The judge was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Rumsby had suffocated Michelle, and “did so because he did not want her to be able to identify him”.
Rumsby had said he covered the teenager’s mouth for about 10 minutes.
“However long it was, it must have taken enough time for Miss Bright to realise she was helpless to prevent her life being taken from her,” the judge said.
Hulme said the attack “must have been one of some savagery” and Michelle was killed in “the most horrific and terrifying circumstances”.
“The perpetrator must realise the victim’s life is in their hands and thereby has a choice to desist at any point,” the judge said.
“In this case, brutally and callously, the offender chose to continue until Miss Bright’s body was lifeless. This is a very grave example of the crime of murder.”
The other teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was repeatedly punched, had her throat grabbed and was told by Rumsby “shut up, or I’ll kill you” and “wouldn’t you prefer to be awake for this”.
“The incident must have been utterly terrifying [for the 18-year-old],” the judge said. “The Crown correctly described the attack as ferocious.”
Michelle’s family delivered emotional victim impact statements to the court on Friday.
“I can never have the one thing I want: my daughter back with me,” Loraine Bright told the court.
Greg Bright said his daughter was “murdered by a monster” and “disposed like a piece of rubbish”.
Loraine Bright pictured during a police appeal for information in 2020.Credit: Nine News
The judge said the harm suffered by Rumsby’s surviving victim and Michelle’s family was “beyond description”.
“Today marks the closure of their pursuit for justice but, as Loraine Bright said, there can never be closure in any other sense,” he said.
Loraine Bright said the family “know where he [Rumsby] is now”, and will never forget Michelle.
“We can probably try to move on with our lives a little bit,” she said.
Rumsby, who has been in custody for three years, will first be eligible for parole in August 2044. His maximum term expires in August 2052.
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2023-08-07 05:17:52Z
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