Rajwinder Singh, 41, was found guilty of the Far North Queensland woman's 2018 murder on a secluded beach north of Cairns. He then fled to India, hiding out for about four years before his arrest and extradition.
Toyah Cordingley 's murderer Rajwinder Singh is being sentenced in the Supreme Court in Cairns, after he was yesterday found guilty by a jury. In her victim impact statement Ms Cordingley's mother Vanessa Gardiner told Singh "you stole the precious life of our daughter from us".
The parents of murdered Queensland woman Toyah Cordingley have addressed their daughter's killer in court, telling him he will never be forgiven.Ahead of sentencing submissions on Tuesday morning, Ms Cordingley's mother Vanessa Gardiner read her victim impact statement supported in the courtroom witness box by her husband Darren Gardiner. "I use the word theft in conjunction with murder because you stole something not of a material value — you stole the precious life of our daughter from us, and those who knew her," Ms Gardiner said.Singh sat in the dock, his head bowed, as the statements were read. "Every time there is a family occasion of significance, there is always the so-called elephant in the room — that being Toyah is not there anymore," Ms Gardiner told the court.It took a jury in the Supreme Court in Cairns seven hours to reach the unanimous guilty verdict after an almost four-week retrial.Troy Cordingley, who found his only child's body buried on Wangetti Beach the morning after her death in October 2018, detailed the pain he has experienced in the years since. "Don't just take a father's word for it — ask anyone who knew or met Toyah and they will tell you what a kind, caring person she was," he said. "I am now, and have always been, so proud and in awe of the young woman she became. She helped me become a better person.Mr Cordingley said he had suffered greatly since his daughter's murder, including from post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, flashbacks and severe panic attacks."I have attempted a few jobs but all have ended unsuccessfully due to my inability to cope.Ms Gardiner said Ms Cordingley's loved ones would forever wonder what her life could have become."She never hurt anyone. Her character was one of peace, and such a positive outlook on life. "We will never, ever, forgive you for what you have done to our Toyah and what you have taken away from our family." Toyah Cordingley's mother Vanessa Gardiner, pictured arriving at court on November 10, read her victim impact statement on Tuesday.Marco Heidenreich, Ms Cordingley's partner at the time of her death, did not make a victim impact statement. However, Crown Prosecutor Nathan Crane told the court Singh's crime had an "obvious impact" on Mr Heidenreich. "Your Honour would have noted he was accused of murder, effectively during the course of this trial, and during the last trial," Mr Crane said. Mr Crane said Singh's defence counsel had effectively put to a court Mr Heidenreich had sexually assaulted Ms Cordingley, influencing the "public sentiment or narrative" against him.Singh must be sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum mandatory non-parole period of 20 years. Crown Prosecutor Nathan Crane told the court Singh's earliest possible release date should be delayed by five years due to the "moral gravity of this crime".Listen back to how Rajwinder Singh's trial unfolded and all the key moments from the courtroom with the ABC's podcast, The Case Of Toyah's Murder. He said that included the public nature of the murder and the fear it could create for the community, as well as the potential Singh's conduct was pre-meditated. " the evidence, it must be inferred there was a knife that was taken to the beach," Mr Crane told the court. Mr Crane said it had been put to the jury that Singh had done something "that was rebuffed or thwarted by Toyah Cordingley, which led to her death".He said it was likely Ms Cordingley "may have been made to tie her own dog before being made to do something else".Mr Crane said Singh's was "an opportunistic and violent crime upon a stranger", followed by "disrespect that was occasioned to ". "There is the prolonging of the administration of justice to the friends and family of Toyah Cordingley by flight, and a failure to cooperate at a time when he understood he was wanted for murder," he told the court. Defence barrister Greg McGuire KC submitted that Justice Crowley should sentence Singh to the mandatory minimum non-parole period.Mr McGuire said Singh spent his time in India at a temple, and that he had no prior history of violence.The court has heard he migrated to Australia in 2009 and became an Australian citizen in 2015."On the prosecution case, it was a motiveless spontaneous killing.
Qld Toyah Cordingley Justice Lincoln Crowley Rajwinder Singh Supreme Court In Cairns Troy Cordingley Crown Prosecutors Defence Court Trial Jury Murder Death Stabbing India Extradition Prison Jail Sentencing
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