It was a belief Justice Martin agreed with.
“It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the nature and rapidity of the reaction, and the actions of some offenders in kicking and striking the deceased while he was on the ground were influenced, at least to some degree, by the fact that the deceased was an Aboriginal person,” he said.
The five men had been partying throughout the night of July 24, 2009, with all but Kloeden heavily intoxicated.
In the early hours of July 25, he was behind the wheel of a four-wheel drive when he decided to travel along the dry Todd River bed, where many Aboriginal people camp.
Justice Martin said Kloeden had no initial intention of harassing the campers, but the journey soon turned volatile as he drove at speed to within a metre of an elderly man who could not run away in time.
Minutes later, he drove over the top of the swag of the elderly man, who had by then managed to get out of harm’s way.
“I have no doubt that if white people had been camped in the riverbed in tents, you would not have set out to harass them in the aggressive manner in which you set out to harass the Aboriginal people who were camped there,” Justice Martin said.
The men left the riverbed and picked up an imitation pistol with blank ammunition at one of their houses, before returning the area where Hird fired the gun to scare campers.
Seeing their vehicle heading his way, Ryder, who was also heavily intoxicated himself, threw a bottle at their car.
“This precipitated an angry reaction and, in the next few seconds, the tragedy unfolded,” Justice Martin said.
Kloeden drove directly at Mr Ryder, who tried to run away. But Hird, followed by three others, jumped out of the car and chased him.
As the Crown told the court: “The deceased fell to the ground where the offender Hird kicked him to the head one time, the offender Swain kicked him twice to the head … Spears struck the deceased with a bottle.”
One of the men said, “Don’t f— with us”, before they ran away, leaving Mr Ryder lying on the ground.
Despite the “cowardly and violent” assault, Justice Martin said it was impossible to know if Mr Ryder’s fatal brain haemorrhage was caused by him hitting his head when he fell, or by the blows inflicted.
Justice Martin said Mr Ryder had a pre-existing aneurism, which could have burst at any time.
He said Mr Ryder’s death devastated his family.
“In the words of the deceased’s mother, it felt like ‘the end of the world’.”
Justice Martin said every crime of manslaughter is serious, but the manslaughter of Mr Ryder was on the “lower end of the scale of seriousness” because none of the offenders were aware of the substantial risk of causing death.
He sentenced Doody to four years’ jail, suspended after 12 months.
Swan was sentenced to five years and six months in jail, with a non-parole period of three years and six months.
Kloeden, Hird and Spears were each sentenced to six years in jail, with a non-parole period of four years.
Mr Ryder’s mother, Theresa Ryder, walked out during the sentencing, saying loudly: “Always good on the outside, inside there’s racism straight out.”
But outside the court, Ms Ryder said she was satisfied, especially after the family of one of the men came to offer their condolences.
“They come up and said they were sorry and comforted me and I appreciate them for doing that to me and it sort of made me feel satisfied.
“I guess I’ve been waiting for that.
Mr Ryder’s sister-in-law, Karen Liddle, said the family is happy with the sentences but there are no winners.
“I feel sad for everybody: us for our loss and also those families too for how foolish those boys were,” she said.
