Mum calls for 'love and hope' after daughter's horrific bushland murder

A mother whose daughter was viciously murdered in Sydney bushland before her body was set alight has called for love, respect and an end to violence against women.

Namja Carroll was taken to a remote part of Sandy Point in the city's south-west by Benjamin Troy Parkes and Robert Sloan on July 14, 2020 before she was killed with a baseball bat, doused in petrol and burnt.

Her body was discovered by a bushwalker 15 days later.

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Today, Anne Carroll described how the loss of her then 33-year-old daughter had traumatised her.

"It is an abnormal and unforeseen event," she told the NSW Supreme Court.

"When a parent holds a newborn for the first time they never imagine that they will also have the duty of burying that child."

Ms Carroll spoke during a sentence hearing for Parkes after a jury found him guilty of murder in April.

She said her daughter was a vulnerable woman who, while academically gifted at school, struggled with drug addiction and childhood abuse.

Putting her trust in the wrong men, Namja Carroll had lost her car, her money and eventually her life in a "brutal and callous murder," the court was told.

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Her mother's statement wrapped up with a positive message.

"Najma would want us all to continue with love and hope in our hearts," she said.

"Hope for an end to violence against women."

"Hope that we can begin to embrace the capacity to love, respect and nurture each other, rather than resorting to physical violence and heinous crimes."

Also today, Justice Natalie Adams noted a psychologist's report diagnosing Parkes with ADHD and a social personality disorder.

But she questioned whether these mental conditions could be linked to the crime at all, adding CCTV footage revealed the ex-bikie engaged in "excessive" use of ice that impaired his judgment at the time.

"He clearly wasn't getting any sleep - he was taking a lot of ice," she said.

During the trial, the jury heard Carroll met Parkes and Sloan when they were selling drugs out of Hunts Hotel Liverpool, also in the city's south-west.

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Carroll had "invested" $8000 in their illegal drugs business by drawing from her superannuation, jurors were told.

Prosecutors argued Parkes was worried Carroll "knew too much" about his drug business and formed an agreement with Sloan to kill her.

Parkes claimed he did not intend to murder Carroll, saying he only wanted to set fire to her SUV out of concerns it could be linked to their activities.

He said he arrived at Sandy Point to see Sloan brutally bashing her with a baseball bat.

The jury rejected these accounts in finding Parkes guilty of murder.

Today defence barrister Nathan Steel still disputed his client was the one to inflict the fatal wounds.

He also argued that the intention to kill Carroll might not have been made at the time she was removed from the Liverpool hotel.

Parkes' claim that the murder occurred soon after arriving at the bush location was contradicted by the discovery of cigarette butts near the site of the bashing.

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One of these tested positive for Carroll's DNA, showing she had time to stop for a smoke, Justice Adams said.

Forensic evidence the victim received three blunt-force injuries before being killed was also inconsistent with Parkes' claims he had seen Sloan beat her 20 times with the bat, crown prosecutor Darren Robinson argued.

Justice Adams will sentence Parkes on July 26.

Sloan will face his own sentence hearing over the murder on Friday.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.