A CENTRAL Coast man who killed a grandfather with a baseball bat during a home invasion at Chittaway Bay and then three weeks later killed another inmate at Silverwater Correctional Centre has been given a special verdict.
The special hearing was held under section 31 of the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act because both defence and prosecution psychiatric experts agreed Clarke was suffering an impairment at the time of both killings.
With a defence of mental health or cognitive impairment established, Justice Stephen Rothman AM entered two special verdicts of act proven but not criminally responsible.
Justice Rothman reserved his reasons, but the verdicts mean Clarke will be referred to the Mental Health Review Tribunal and detained at a correctional centre "until released by due process of law".
Clarke, who was known colloquially on the Central Coast as "the running man" because he was often seen running along the Pacific Highway at Tuggerah, forced his way into Mr Lambert's home in Trigg Road about 8.45pm on November 2 before seriously assaulting Mr Lambert with a baseball bat.
He fled on foot while Mr Lambert was being taken to hospital where he died a short time later.
Clarke was arrested the next day after returning to his home in Lorraine Avenue, Berkeley Vale.
Police later found a baseball bat and a jacket in a neighbouring garden.
Clarke was refused bail and was on remand at Silverwater Correctional Centre on November 23 when he killed Kevin Byrne, 63.
Mr Byrne was found lying on the floor of his cell about 11.30am and, despite the efforts of correctional officers, was declared dead by responding paramedics.
Clarke was arrested and charged with murder three days later.
The special hearing was brief, lasting less than 30 minutes, but it was a chance for families of both men to deliver victim impact statements.
Only the loved ones of Mr Byrne chose to read their statements to the court, raising concerns about how the 63-year-old was placed with Clarke.
"My dad was a frail old man at 63-years of age," Mr Byrne's son said. "He had existing health conditions that put him in an at risk category. "The inmate he was in with was a murderer, who had committed premeditated murder of a 70-year-old grandfather in front of his family just weeks beforehand. What assessment was undertaken of these men to ascertain that was a good idea? I hold the Department of Corrections responsible for this negligence to their duty of care. No one deserves to die under these type of circumstances."
Mr Byrne's partner said he never had a chance to prove his innocence because Clarke took his life "like he was nothing".
