Suicide girl's parents want jail for bullies

The site of the Cafe Vamp, Hawthorn, Melbourne. Image / Google maps

MELBOURNE - The parents of a young waitress who killed herself after being subjected to relentless workplace bullying says the law should be changed to allow courts to jail tormenters.

Three workmates, and the owner of Cafe Vamp in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn, were convicted and fined a total of A$335,000 ($420,000) after the death of waitress Brodie Rae Constance Panlock, 19, in September 2006.

Panlock threw herself from the fourth floor of a carpark in Hawthorn after enduring physical and mental bullying at the cafe where she had worked for 16 months.

She died three days later in hospital from her injuries.

Former workmates Nicholas Smallwood, 26, Rhys MacAlpine, 28, and Gabriel Toomey, 23, all pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court to failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of persons.

The cafe's owner Marc Luis Da Cruz and his company MAP Foundation pleaded guilty to two charges, including failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment.

All four men were convicted on the charges, with magistrate Peter Lauritsen describing their actions as "the most serious case of bullying" and saying he would have doubled the penalties if they had not pleaded guilty.

MAP Foundation was fined A$110,000 each on its two charges while Da Cruz was fined A$15,000 each for two similar charges. Smallwood was fined A$45,000, MacAlpine A$30,000 and Toomey A$10,000.

Lauritsen said there was a "poisonous atmosphere" among the staff at the Hawthorn cafe with persistent bullying although Panlock was singled out for a greater degree of bullying.

The three accused employees had been warned by another Vamp employee, Meghan Chester, that if they continued to bully Panlock "they would have blood on their hands".

Panlock had tried to kill herself in May 2006 by taking rat poison and spent three days in hospital. But back at work she was again taunted by the men, who called her fat and ugly.

Lauritsen said Da Cruz had given tacit approval to the bullying by telling his staff "to take it out the back" when abuse was being carried out.

Ms Panlock's mother Rae, who had been unaware of the bullying, described her daughter as a "beautiful girl who was full of compassion".

"As far as I'm concerned they drove her to the edge and they pushed her over - as far as I'm concerned they should be in jail."

Panlock's father, Damien, said the law should be changed to include a custodial sentence.

- AAP