THE GETAWAY driver after the shocking execution of Stockton grandmother Stacey Klimovitch has told her family through tears that he made the biggest mistake of his life that night.
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Stephen John Garland, now 66, fronted a sentence hearing in the NSW Supreme Court in Newcastle on Wednesday after a jury last year found him guilty of manslaughter.
Mrs Klimovitch was gunned down by contract killer Jason Paul Hawkins in the doorway of her Queen Street home in Stockton when she answered a knock at the door about 8pm on June 9, 2021.
The 61-year-old swimming coach and grandmother had fallen victim to a targeted and premeditated murder masterminded by her former son-in-law, Stuart Campbell, over an ongoing dispute.
Campbell recruited former Nomad bikie Garland to give hitman Hawkins a lift to Stockton that night.
The exact motivation behind Garland getting behind the wheel remains unknown, but prosecutors claim there was more to it than to repay an "innocuous favour" after Campbell gave him some rental help.
A jury last year found that Garland did not know he was driving Hawkins over the Stockton bridge to assassinate Mrs Klimovitch, but knew something criminal was going to happen.
Her family yesterday told the court of their eternal heartbreak and trauma at the shocking loss of the beloved Mrs Klimovitch in such horrific circumstances, holding back sobs as they stared down her killer and his getaway driver.
Garland read a letter of his own to family in court on Wednesday, addressing it to Mrs Klimovitch's mother, children, grandchild, and all those mourning her.
"I'm so, so very sorry for my involvement in this very sad and tragic crime," he said, visibly emotional.
"I made the biggest mistake of my life by driving that night, and nothing I say or do will bring Stacey back."
He said their words had hit home for him as a father and grandfather.
"The love, the courage you showed yesterday in your statements to me broke my heart," he said.
"I tried to show your family the respect you deserve by looking you face-to-face.
"I would never ask for forgiveness ... I'm really hoping one day you can all walk out your front doors and feel safe, and smile again."
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Defence barrister Tom Hughes said Garland only became involved in the "joint criminal enterprise" a short time before the deadly bullet was fired, about the time he turned off the car headlights.
He said it was unlikely Hawkins would tell Garland earlier that he was committing a serious crime in case it led Garland, who was in control of the car, to say "I'm not having a bar of this".
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield said Garland had emphasised that he hadn't wanted to drive Hawkins to Stockton that night.
"If there wasn't some unlawful overtone to it, that level of persuasion wouldn't have been necessary," he told the court.
Mr Hatfield said Garland had not just dropped Hawkins off in a residential area, he'd also been the getaway driver after the murder.
The court heard Garland had suffered through onerous conditions in custody since his arrest in November 2021, and suffered medical conditions.
The court was told it was highly unusual that Garland did not have a criminal history until he was in his 40s, and got involved with the Nomads outlaw motorcycle gang, in a "late mid-life crisis of significant order".
Garland will be sentenced for manslaughter in the NSW Supreme Court in Newcastle on Friday, alongside Hawkins, who is facing a possible life sentence for murder.
Campbell's web of lies and deceit was unravelled, but he died in jail before facing trial.
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald. Email: afalkenmire@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald. Email: afalkenmire@austcommunitymedia.com.au
