Sonia lost the sight of her left eye, partial vision of the other, suffered a fracture to her arm and horrible bruising to her upper body following an attack during the early hours of April 19, 2012.

They were injuries that not only shocked hardened police and emergency service personnel called to her Medlyn Street home but also doctors and specialists that battled to save her life in the ensuing weeks.

For Sharon Eldridge, she too will forever have entrenched the memory of that horrible attack on her sister.

At the time, Detective Steve Howard who was in charge of the investigations, described the attack as one of the most vicious he had ever encountered.

Sharon Eldridge, who resides in Parkes, is incensed with the sentence given to Payne in Orange District Court.

“Grievous Bodily Harm has with it a maximum sentence of 25 years,” Sharon said. 

“We were informed that what happened to Sonia was within the highest range. 

“Yet this man, if you can call him that, received nine years with a non-parole period of five-and-a-half years,” she said.

“It’s farcical!

“Here was someone that was on parole from Adelaide jail after serving three-and-a-half years for the manslaughter of a man in 2005, then given permission to travel to Lake Cargelligo for a funeral where he got involved in another incident and subsequently charged with Affray, granted conditional bail and then bludgeoning and almost killing my sister.

“He bashed and bashed and bashed my sister until he thought she was dead, and it appears there was no motive.

“The big question that arises from all this is why?

“Why was he allowed to travel to NSW when his parole conditions stated he had to stay in South Australia.

“Why, after being charged with Affray following offences in Lake Cargelligo wasn’t he sent packing to South Australia for breaking his parole conditions?”

Sharon said that if a National Data Base had been in place where the police in Lake Cargelligo and Parkes could have easily accessed Payne’s criminal history then her sister wouldn’t have been attacked.

“Someone in authority needs to be accountable for this crime. Payne will serve five and-a-half-years in this instance while Sonia has really been handed a life sentence.

“She will never be the same person again physically or emotionally. 

“She can’t even sleep in her bedroom anymore – bedtime to her is dozing on her lounge.

“She’s always afraid someone is going to enter her unit and attack her again.”

Sonia now lives in Orange.

Sharon believes not only should Payne have been handed a harsher sentence but that the authorities who allowed him to enter NSW should also be made accountable.

She hasn’t sat idle on the matter and has contacted Local State Member Troy Grant on the matter.

“I highlighted to Mr Grant that following the incidents in Lake Cargelligo that when police had conducted a procedural search of the NSW Police Force database, there were no warnings present from the South Australian Authorities.”

Sharon said Mr Grant had referred the case to the Attorney General who in his reply indicated he was unsure why police hadn’t lodged an appeal after Payne had been granted bail following the incidents in Lake Cargelligo.

Sharon said changes need to be made to the legal system.

“Three and-a-half years for manslaughter and now this inadequate sentence. 

“The authorities believe these type of people can be rehabilitated, as far as I’m concerned they can’t and the community will always pay,’ Sharon said.