Man who fatally stabbed cousin on NSW South coast sentenced

A man who stabbed his teenage cousin to death had been “play fighting” before the “mucking around” escalated, a court has been told.

A man who stabbed his teenage cousin to death at a house party on the NSW South Coast wishes someone “had a chance” to ask him what he was doing before the “play fighting” between the pair escalated.

Dominic Saliba, now 22, was charged with murder after stabbing his cousin Bailey Jones, 18, at a Bomaderry party on December 9, 2022.

He was found not guilty of murder but guilty of the lesser sentence of manslaughter in a judge-alone trial in March this year.

In the Supreme Court of Sydney on Monday, Justice Dina Yehia sentenced the 22-year-old to seven years and nine months in prison, with a non-parole period of four years and three months.

Dominic Saliba has been sentenced to seven years and nine months behind bars.

A court has been told that Bailey Jones was ‘an amazing football player’ and a ‘loving, kind and funny young man’.

The court was told that Mr Jones and Saliba were cousins with a “close relationship” who were “mucking around” together at Saliba’s house on the night of the killing.

“The offender and the deceased were play fighting in the garage and were mucking around and perhaps testing each other,” Justice Yehia said in sentencing.

The incident then “escalated” over a period of just a few short minutes, she said, before Saliba stabbed Mr Jones in the chest, resulting in a 85-90mm stab wound.

Mr Jones died shortly after as a result of the injuries.

The pair often interacted with each other by “play fighting”, kicking and slapping each other as a “form of mucking around”, the court was told.

Saliba later admitted that he had “f**ked up” and “flipped the switch” before telling the court he “wishes someone had a chance to say Dom what are you doing”.

Eight emotional victim impact statements were read in an earlier sentence hearing, which referred to Mr Jones as “an amazing football player” and a “loving, kind and funny young man” who was close to his mother.

Mr Jones died after he was stabbed in the chest, resulting in a 85-90mm stab wound.

Justice Yehia said Mr Jones’s killing had resulted in “deep and ongoing grief” to his family.

“He was a young man who had a whole life before him … he had aspirations to buy property, marry and become a father,” she said on Monday.

She added while “no jail term of any length can return a loved one”, the offender must be held accountable.

Saliba also pleaded guilty in the Nowra Local Court to the possession of an unauthorised firearm after a .303 rifle that had been spray painted was found by police in the roof cavity of his home.

Saliba was arrested in December 2022 just days after the stabbing and has been remanded in custody since.

He will be eligible for parole in July 2027.

Originally published as Man who fatally stabbed cousin on NSW South coast sentenced