A MAN who strangled a 16-year-old autistic boy to death in his bed at Charlestown while he was suffering a drug-induced psychosis was on Friday jailed for a maximum of 25 years in NSW Supreme Court.
Chadley Sheridan, now 25, was in September found guilty of murdering the boy in an unprovoked attack at a unit in Charlestown Road on March 15 last year, the jury finding the psychosis he was suffering at the time of the killing was caused solely by using drugs, particularly methamphetamine.
But in March last year, Sheridan essentially took a risk with his mental health, consuming anything he could get his hands on, including taking and injecting "unknown substances".
"The offender was on notice that using ice could cause him to become psychotic," Justice Peter Garling said in a judgment in Sydney Supreme Court on Friday. "He had on several occasions presented himself for medical treatment with symptoms consistent with psychosis which were temporally connected with his use of drugs, especially ice. "The medical records revealed that he was informed of the negative effects of taking drugs but he nevertheless chose to continue to use them."
Justice Garling said due to the drug-induced psychosis he was suffering, Sheridan did not know what he was doing was morally wrong, but he had clearly intended to kill the boy, using three methods to asphyxiate him.
"The offender has committed a grave act of gratuitous violence against a young and vulnerable person in their own bedroom," he said.
Justice Garling jailed Sheridan for a maximum of 25 years, with a non-parole period of 17 years.
With time served since his arrest, Sheridan will be eligible for parole in March, 2038, at the age of 41.
