Highlights
- 25-year-old Courtney Herron was murdered in May 2019 while walking in a Melbourne park
- The court found Henry Hammond who repeatedly hit Courtney on her upper body with a stick, was suffering from schizophrenia at the time
- Courtney's mother says Hammond doesn't deserve another chance and should be jailed
Warning: This story contains descriptions of violence that may distress some readers
On the night of 24 May 2019, 25-year-old Courtney Herron was with her boyfriend and another friend in Melbourne CBD. They were approached by Henry Hammond for a cigarette. Ms Herron had met him before, many years ago; so without hesitation, she gave him a smoke and invited him to a friend’s house where they all took the drug ice.
Hammond’s behaviour alarmed Ms Herron’s boyfriend who took photos of him before leaving. Ms Herron and Hammond stayed back and later went out for dinner.
They were recorded on CCTV engaging in casual conversation, before heading back to her friend’s apartment in Fitzroy. There they both spiralled in a drug-infused psychotic discussion about dragons and past lives. The two of them left around 4.30 am and were walking through Royal park in Parkville when Hammond killed Ms Herron.
“She was walking ahead of him when he picked up a fallen tree branch. When she turned around and saw him, her last words were ‘are you going to kill me?’” Ms Herron’s mother Metaxia Antoniou said.
“He then repeatedly bashed her for 50 minutes in the head and upper body.”
Henry Hammond then tied Ms Herron’s legs together using a stick and a piece of black material and dragged her body across a path and into a clearing where he covered her with leaves and a large tree branch. Then placed a large piece of concrete on her face.
Metaxia Antoniou with her daughter Courtney Herron in past happy times. Source: supplied/Metaxia Antoniou
Ms Antoniou says she came across the news and the next day, police officers in plainclothes showed up in her doorstep to deliver the devastating news.
“When I saw them I asked straight away ‘the girl in the park, it’s Courtney, isn’t it?’ They said yes,” she said.
“They had recognised the body from her fingerprints and wouldn’t allow us a visit to the morgue.”
"They couldn’t even stitch her back together, that’s how much damage he had done to her,” Ms Antoniou told SBS Greek.
27-year-old Henry Hammond was arrested shortly after body was found. The father of two, a homeless drug addict who was already known to the authorities initially denied knowing Ms Herron. Her phone, wallet and credit cards were found in his possession. He later admitted to the police that he had killed Ms Herron.
Last picture of Courtney Herron in her mother's kitchen Source: supplied/Metaxia Antoniou
He told police he had recognised Ms Herron from a past life and got his revenge on her.
Last month, the Supreme Court of Victoria ruled that Hammond couldn’t be pronounced guilty of Courtney Herron’s murder because, at the time of the crime, he didn’t know what he was doing was wrong.
“I am satisfied that, at the time that he killed Ms Herron, [Henry Hammond] was suffering from a schizophrenic illness such that, when he inflicted the fatal injuries on Ms Herron, he did not know his conduct was wrong, and could not reason with a moderate degree of sense and composure about whether the conduct, as perceived by reasonable people, was wrong,” Justice Phillip Priest said in the judgment.
While the court has made a declaration that Hammond is liable to be kept under supervision, Ms Antoniou says he should be jailed.
Courtney Herron was murdered at Royal Park in Melbourne Source: AAP Image/Daniel Pockett
“He had his second chance already when he was released early for the attack on his girlfriend. Look where that ended. He murdered Courtney just seven weeks after. He always attacks women, vulnerable women,” she says.
"He should be jailed for 20 years and made to take his medication so that he isn’t able to walk free and kill again.”
Henry Hammond had been released early from prison where he was serving a 10-month sentence handed down in December 2018 for assaulting his ex-girlfriend at her home in St Kilda.
He was released early after a judge found the sentence too harsh and decided to give Hammond a second chance on the condition he gets treatment. Weeks later, he bludgeoned Ms Herron to death.
Her mother says Ms Herron had been let down repeatedly by the system, "first by mental health services and then by the correction services and now the Justice system".
She says justice hasn’t been served in Courtney's case.
Courtney Herron's grave Source: Metaxia Antoniou
“We got the life sentence of grief, having buried Courtney forever. What he gets is another chance.”
Courtney Herron is buried next to her grandfather Hristos Antoniou. The only thought that consoles her mother is that: “Courtney is now safe with her grandpa, she will not be hurt again or suffer anymore”.
Play the podcast by clicking on the button on the top image to listen to Metaxia's Antoniou interview with SBS Radio Greek. The interview is in English.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit . In an emergency, call 000.
Readers/Listeners seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged 5 to 25). More information about mental health is available at .
