The identical twin brother of a school cleaner who murdered Leeton school teacher Stephanie Scott has attempted to take his own life in jail and repeatedly self-harmed since he was charged with being a murder accessory, according to a forensic psychology report.
Marcus Stanford, 25, was sentenced to a jail term of one year and three months on Wednesday after he pawned Ms Scott's engagement and graduation rings for $705.
A detailed 17-page report obtained by Fairfax Media has outlined how Stanford abused alcohol, had a chronic cannabis addiction and smoked up to eight joints and several cones each day prior to his arrest.
During an assessment with forensic psychologist Dr Katie Seidler, Stanford spoke openly about how he believed his murderous brother Vincent was "peculiar".
He also claimed Vincent had been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
"Mr Stanford acknowledged that he has felt the need to 'stand up' for his brother and he has been quite protective of him because he is 'peculiar' and was often bullied when they were children," Dr Seidler wrote.
Stanford told Dr Seidler he failed to tell police about receiving Ms Scott's rings and driver's licence in the mail because he "didn't want to feel like [he'd] backstabbed" his brother.
He said he felt "sick" when he realised the items belonged to Ms Scott and told the psychologist the situation was "emotionally compromising" and he was "not in the right state of mind" after learning about his brother's arrest for murder.
"Mr Stanford acknowledged that he knew what he was doing was illegal but he claimed to have felt 'justified' at the time because he was 'helping out' his brother," Dr Seidler wrote.
He did not consider the impact his actions would have on Ms Scott's family and especially her fiance Aaron Leeson-Woolley .
"He was able to discuss the possible impact on these people of his actions and in this regard, Mr Stanford expressed both remorse and regret."
This week Ms Scott's mother Merrilyn read out a victim impact statement during Stanford's sentencing hearing, explaining her disgust at how Stanford had pawned the rings belonging to her daughter and used some of the proceeds to fly home after visiting his brother in jail.
"Even as we searched, Stephanie's fate was known by a second person," Mrs Scott said. "Both were part of something so monstrous, so cruel and heartless, devoid of any of the qualities that make us moral human beings. Opportunities to assist the police were squandered, and now we must all suffer the consequences.
"These treasured little rings that had meant so much had become trophies. The vision of them being removed from Stephanie's gentle, loving hands sickens us and fills us with despair," she said.
Stanford was born in Australia but his mother took him and his two brothers back to her home country of Holland after a marriage break-down.
The 25-year-old grew up in Holland and said he returned to Australia in 2013, initially on his own, because of lack of work and a desire to live in the country he was born.
He said his mother Anneke Noort, twin brother Vincent and older brother Luke joined him in Australia a year later.
Stanford worked as an electrician for two years before getting a job at a South Australian flower farm.
In her report Dr Seidler concluded: "Mr Stanford's offending is best understood as the consequence of the poor decision making of a man believing that he was in some way standing up for his brother."
After he is released from prison on September 9, Stanford intends to remain in Australia.
Ms Scott, 26, was days away from marrying when she was sexually assaulted and murdered by cleaner Vincent Stanford on school grounds on Easter Sunday, 2015.
He pleaded guilty to the murder earlier this year and will face a sentencing hearing in Griffith in October.
