A car thief has hurled abuse at a Perth jury after being found guilty of murdering a mother who was trying to stop him stealing her son's vehicle from the driveway of her Mirrabooka home.
Micheal Spratt, 26, had been on trial in the WA Supreme Court for the past week over the death of 51-year-old Marija Karovska on February 23 last year.
She was fatally run over in front of her two adult children while trying to stop Spratt from stealing her son's car from the family's Cedar Court home.
He had stolen the keys to the vehicle earlier in the morning and returned later to take it.
Spratt denied murdering Ms Karovska, claiming he was not in control of the car when it reversed over her.
He said her son, who had jumped into the back passenger seat, had him in a headlock and was repeatedly punching him at the time of impact.
Victim pinned underneath car
After managing to get out of the car, Spratt fled the scene, but he was arrested 90 minutes later in the suburb of Hamersley, about 10 kilometres away.
Ms Karovska was pinned underneath the vehicle after being run over, and her son and daughter made the decision to move the car off her — forcing the wheels to roll over her a second time— because they could not pull her out.
They started CPR while they waited for an ambulance to arrive, but Ms Karovksa died on the way to hospital.
Verdict prompts angry outburst
The jury deliberated for a little under two hours before finding Spratt guilty of the charge of murder, prompting an angry outburst from him.
He yelled to the court he never meant to do anything and calling the jury members "racist f***s" and "racist c***s".
As members of Ms Karovska's family wept in the public gallery, Justice Joe McGrath repeatedly told Spratt to stop and later told the jury members to ignore what had been said.
Spratt continued to yell after they left the room, questioning why he was getting the blame.
He now faces a possible life jail sentence and was remanded in custody until he is sentenced in September.
