“I DON’T HAVE ROOM FOR ANGER…” – The mother of tradie Jack Gilmour, who was fatally sh0t during a botched home invasion in Rye, has shared extraordinary words of forgiveness for those responsible.
Mother forgives son’s killers after fatal home invasion
The mother of a tradie shot dead in a botched home invasion has delivered a remarkable show of mercy, declaring she forgives her son’s killers because she doesn’t have room for anger.
Jack Gilmour was killed by a gunshot to the chest when three intruders smashed through the front windows of his Rye home in December 2024.
“I do forgive them, absolutely,” Gilmore’s mother Kim Male said outside court on Monday. “I’m devastated. My son’s not here. But I don’t have room for anger.”
Mason Mattacoli, Charlie Hayter and Tyler Vandesteeg came to the house armed with a loaded rifle. The tradie confronted the intruders while his girlfriend hid in the bathroom. Moments later, two people were dead.
“Jackson was not a horrible person,” Gilmour’s brother Sam Male said. “He came from a beautiful family. He had beautiful friends.”
Mattacoli and Vandesteeg have already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and on Monday pleaded for a lenient sentence. One of the killers was seen crying in court.
Defence barristers for both men argued their clients are remorseful and can still turn their lives around. But Justice Dixon noted a glaring omission — neither man has told the full truth. To this day, no one knows who pulled the trigger.
Hayter also died during the incident. Both co-accused men left her and Gilmour for dead as they fled, later meeting Jarod Smit who set fire to the getaway car.
All three men will be sentenced on July 17.
