A man serving 16 years in prison for murdering his friend under the Monaro Street bridge in Queanbeyan in 2019 has had his appeal against the sentence quashed.
Alan Delaney was found guilty by a jury in February last year of violently assaulting Aaron Baxter on Boxing Day 2019. He claimed the victim stole his money and was meddling in his relationship, including telling Delaney's then partner that the men were going to a brothel.
The jury had been told that the victim was inebriated after sharing a cask of wine and had been under the bridge with another man, Joseph Wipiiti, who at the time was living out of his car parked nearby.
Mr Wipiiti provided police with a first-hand account of the vicious attack, and his evidence given to police and the court was found to be both credible and reliable.
The assault was of such severity - including a number of knee blows which broke the victim's ribs - that Mr Baxter suffered massive internal bleeding, hypovolemic shock and heart failure. He died two hours after the incident.
During the trial, an alternative verdict of manslaughter by unlawful and dangerous act was left to the jury. However, the jury found otherwise, supporting the Crown's contention that the assault by the Delaney was a substantial or significant cause of death by causing the deceased to suffer a ruptured spleen.
Delaney's grounds for appeal was that the verdict was "unreasonable", and that there were discrepancies on what caused the death.
During the original trial, two "alternative hypotheses" were advanced for the cause of death - a so-called "poleaxe fall" after the assault, and an earlier fall. It was put to the jury that the deceased had a history of falling.
Key witness Mr Wipiiti had confirmed with the court how the applicant's knees connected with the victim's midsection and ribs. He also told how the victim had "stood up and walked" after the assault but then fell headfirst into a wall and that the deceased also fell a second time onto his face.
Delaney had denied any intention to kill Baxter.
"I didn't want to do that [kill him]. I never want to do that to anyone," he said.
"Oh, I go cranky sometimes, but I didn't want that to happen."
Nonetheless, he sent a text message to an associate after the assault in which he said: "Cheers bro, I've just broken my hand belting a c**.
To succeed on the murder charge, the Crown had to prove that Delaney caused Mr Baxter's death and prove that the blows inflicted during the assault was a "substantial or significant cause" of death. Forensic pathology found clear evidence that death was due to bleeding in the deceased's abdomen as a consequence of a spleen laceration caused by blunt force trauma.
In summary, the judge found that causation of death was proved beyond reasonable doubt and the evidence submitted during the trial established the critical facts, also beyond reasonable doubt.
Delaney's 16-year sentence has a non-parole period of 12 years and he will be eligible for release in 2031.
