Brisbane widower stuns courtroom with compassionate wish for killer

The husband of a woman senselessly killed in a car accident says he hopes the teen who took her life can find someone to love him as much as he was loved by his wife.

Rosemary Franzidis, 69, was returning home from morning Mass in Brisbane’s north when her car was struck by a speeding vehicle driven by an unlicensed and drug-affected youth on November 7, 2024.

Jean-Paul Franzidis paid tribute to his wife of almost 50 years in a moving victim impact statement delivered at the young man’s sentencing for manslaughter in Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday.

“There is a big empty space in my life,” he told the court.

“Half of me is no more – and the better half by far.”

But he kept his final words for the young man who took his wife’s life.

“My wish is that the young man in the dock will find someone in his life that will choose him and love him as my wife personally loved me,” Franzidis said to a stunned courtroom.

The driver, who was 16 at the time of the accident and had never held a licence, cannot be named.

The now 18-year-old wept and shook during Franzidis’ statement, and when details of the fatal injuries suffered by his wife were read to the court.

Justice Kerri Mellifont told the young man he was the beneficiary of the Franzidis family’s generosity.

“I hope you realise how fortunate you are that they have such a generous attitude,” she told him, as the young man nodded.

The court heard the stolen car was being driven at more than 130km/h when it ploughed into Mrs Franzidis’ vehicle as she entered an intersection on Dohles Rocks Rd in Murrumba Downs.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The young man had earlier pleaded guilty to a series of other offences, including unlawfully entering a home while pretending to be armed, assault, and threatening another person while claiming to be armed.

The court was told he had consumed a cocktail of drugs, including methamphetamines and cannabis, before embarking on a spree of offences with two older accomplices.

One of them, Racheal Collyer, 37 – whom the young man had met on the day of Mrs Franzidis’ death – was driving behind him in another stolen vehicle with a third accused, 21-year-old Dylan Anderson.

Collyer was sentenced for her part in the offending in August.

Mellifont sentenced the young man to 7½ years in prison.

But she took into account mitigating circumstances, including his early guilty plea, his remorse for his actions, including his participation in a restorative justice program, and his good prospects of rehabilitation.

The young man had also witnessed and experienced serious domestic violence at the hands of his mother, from whom he was now estranged.

He had no criminal history until the months leading up to the crash, when his life began to spin out of control.

Mellifont reduced the head sentence by 50 per cent.

She said the young man had used his time already served in custody well.

“You have taken up each and every opportunity you can to improve yourself,” she said.

Outside court, Franzidis briefly addressed the media, saying: “The law has taken its course.”

“The young man has been sentenced today for an unspeakable crime against my family and our society.”

He applauded Queensland’s LNP government for its attention to youth crime, which he described as “a scourge on our society”.

With 706 days already served, the man will be eligible for parole by mid-2028.

AAP

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