Two teenage thugs who violently stabbed an Uber driver during a “wicked” armed robbery lied about what happened, even joking and simulating their heinous act.
Tye Wayne Porter, 20, and a teenager, now 19, sat stone-faced and silent on Friday as they learned their fate following the death of Queensland rideshare driver Scott Cabrie in 2023.
Cabrie, 47, had picked up the couple at a job before being stabbed to death when the pair stole his car and assaulted him.
During his sentencing, Brisbane Supreme Court Justice Peter Davis ordered the teenager be released after serving 60 per cent of his 15-year sentence.
The court was told Porter will be released in 2029 after serving 50 per cent of his main 9.5-year sentence.
Cabrie, a rideshare driver in Queensland’s Fraser Coast region, was last seen leaving his home in Toogoom on February 6, 2023. His friends raised the alarm after they didn’t hear from him for days .
Cabrie was found dead near a boat ramp on Power House Rd, Howard, on Queensland’s Fraser Coast, days later.
Relatives of the slain driver filled the courtroom and were heard expressing disbelief at Porter’s outcome.
That anger continued outside, where Cabrie’s brother Ian and best friend Cameron Thomas expressed frustration at the outcome.
‘It’s an absolute joke. Cold-blooded murder, and these guys are out in less than 10 years,” Mr. Thomas said.
Scott Cabrie responded to a ride request in his Uber and was stabbed to death
Earlier this year, Porter pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, armed robbery of a business and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
The teenager, who cannot be identified under Queensland law, pleaded guilty to murder, armed robbery accompanied by violence, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and arson.
The Brisbane Supreme Court was told Porter, then 18, and the then 17-year-old teenager had spent the night drinking before ordering an Uber to take them to an address in Pacific Haven.
During the night, the couple had discussed whether they wanted to steal a car.
Mr. Cabrie, in his Nissan X Trail, responded to the request and took them to the house.
Brother Ian Cabrie (left) and his best friend Cameron Thomas (second left) emerge to speak to the media outside the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Friday.
Police allege Cabrie died during carpool in his Nissan X-Trail
After arriving, Porter and the teen went inside and armed themselves with a kitchen knife and a butcher knife before returning to the waiting Uber.
Mr. Cabrie was attacked and forced into the trunk of his Nissan X Trail.
The court was told the pair drove the car to a nearby boat ramp and freed Mr Cabrie.
The teenager stabbed Mr Cabrie as he tried to escape and fell in the process.
“Porter then told (the teenager) to ‘come here and sort (Mr. Cabrie) out’ while Porter was trying to start the car,” Judge Davis said.
The court was told the teenager then stabbed Mr Cabrie again before the pair drove off, drove the car to Pacific Haven and set it on fire.
In the days that followed, the couple lied to others about what had happened and were seen joking about “stabbing someone.”
“(Another) person saw them acting out, stabbing each other,” Judge Davis said.
In sentencing the teenager, Judge Davis found the offense of murder “particularly heinous” due to the circumstances.
Tye Wayne Porter pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter
The court was told the teenager had lied about Cabrie attacking him with an emergency hammer when he was freed from the vehicle.
“Mr. Cabrie was no threat to you, but you just couldn’t let him go,” Judge Davis said.
Your plan was to steal his car; That was bad enough.
‘Instead you brutally attacked him with a knife and when he ran away and fell to the ground, you then attacked him again.
“The plan was evil: to take advantage of a man…where he was forced to trust complete strangers who might get into his vehicle.”
Judge Davis accepted the teenager did not intend to kill Mr Cabrie but found he intended to cause him grievous bodily harm.
Reading the teen’s background, he said the boy had a difficult upbringing and had been exposed to alcohol and substance abuse from an early age.
Friends reported Mr. Cabrie missing when he was not heard from for days
The court was told the teenager had sought contact with members of outlaw motorcycle gangs.
As a result, he had become attracted to a “criminal lifestyle”, Judge Davis said.
The court was told Porter had also used alcohol and drugs from a young age after leaving the family home at the age of 15.
The court was told he had only had paid employment at a service station.
Porter was a heavy ice user at the time Mr. Cabrie was killed and reported that he had no memory of what happened due to “fainting.”
The teen received a 15-year capital sentence and was ordered to serve 9 years behind bars.
Porter received a 9.5-year head sentence and will be eligible for parole in August 2029.
Cabrie’s family said sentences for teens were a ‘joke’
Outside court, Ian Cabrie told reporters the teenager’s sentence was higher than expected but was still “disappointing”.
“The most disappointing thing is that it will only meet 60 percent of that amount,” he said.
‘Scott was murdered for no reason – he was vulnerable because he was driving an Uber.
“They killed him just for the joy of it, and that’s very disappointing.”
Thomas called the phrases a “joke.”
“To think we’re happy about today is a bunch of nonsense,” he said.
‘The system is broken.
‘Let capital punishment return. I’m sick of it.