Teenager’s alleged murder sparks calls for change
Rachel Jackson and Andrew Brown |
Kathleen Kirby stood with more than 1000 people on a beach after her daughter was allegedly murdered.
Their message was clear.
“Audrey and every person deserves to feel safe,” Ms Kirby said.
The vigil on Thursday evening was held at Terrigal Beach on the NSW Central Coast to remember 19-year-old Audrey Griffin.
“She brought joy, laughter and warmth to every room she walked in,” Ms Kirby told the crowd.
The teenage sportswoman went missing after a night out in March and her body was found partially submerged in Erina Creek.
Police did not initially treat her death as suspicious.
But after a four-week investigation, 53-year-old Adrian Noel Torrens was charged on Monday with Ms Griffin’s murder.
It was alleged the pair were not known to each other but were involved in an altercation in the early hours of March 23.
Torrens also faced 11 unrelated domestic violence charges, including using a mobile phone in a harassing or menacing manner and 10 counts of breaching an apprehended violence order.
The domestic violence charges were due to return to court in May.
Ms Griffin’s alleged murder has fuelled a wider conversation about violence against women.
A march led by What Were You Wearing, an Australian not-for-profit organisation fighting to end sexual violence, will be held for the community on Sunday.
Brianna Harvey is the group’s events co-ordinator and grew up in the Central Coast region.
“The community is so small that I feel like when something like this happens, you almost feel like it happens to you,” she told AAP.
“It’s such a shocking thing to happen. Things need to be done about it.”
The march was prompted by requests from young people in the community, Ms Harvey said.
“Showing up in solidarity with each other spurs hope into people,” she said.
“That what they’re doing matters and it will actually create some sort of change.”
Acknowledgement was one of the first steps to achieving changes including legislative reform, she said.
Torrens’ body was found in his cell at the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre in Sydney on Thursday afternoon.
Corrective Services NSW is investigating his death, which is being treated as non-suspicious.
It has been reported to the state coroner and will be subject to a public inquest.
“Corrective Services NSW extends its deepest sympathies to the family of Audrey Griffin at this distressing time and also sends condolences to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people affected by Mr Torrens’ death,” a spokeswoman said.
NSW Corrections Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said his thoughts were with those who knew Ms Griffin.
The march organised by What Were You Wearing will be held at noon on Sunday at Gosford Waterfront Park.
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