Bailey Clifford jailed for killing Paul Grapsas

A thieving killer who stabbed an unarmed man to death and left him in a gutter could be out of prison in less than four years, in a sentence the victim’s family say is “unacceptable and shocking”.

Paul Grapsas was killed by Bailey Clifford, who could be released in 2029.

The family of a slain Geelong dad have lashed the justice system, after the man’s killer was given a “slap on the wrist”.

Bailey Clifford, 20, fronted the Supreme Court at Geelong on Wednesday, where he was jailed for a maximum of eight years and six months by Justice Rita Incerti for the manslaughter of father-of-three Paul Grapsas on September 14, 2023.

Justice Incerti set a non-parole period of five years, meaning with 453 days reckoned as time served Clifford could be released on parole in just over three-and-a-half years.

Mr Grapsas had taken his dog for a late-night walk, when he came across Clifford breaking into his car and went to confront him.

Paul Grapsas' wife Jessica Grapsas, supported on either side by her parents, speaking outside Geelong Law Courts following the sentencing of Mr Grapsas killer, Bailey Clifford. 16/04/2024

The then-18-year-old thief stabbed him seven times with a fishing knife and left him for dead in a gutter, where he was found by his heavily-pregnant wife, Jessica, hours later.

Justice Incerti said it was a serious example of the charge of manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment.

Reading a statement to media on behalf of the family outside the court following the sentence, Jessica Grapsas called the sentence “unacceptable and shocking”.

“The justice system is geared in favour of perpetrators, giving out merely a slap on the wrist,” she said.

“How many people are going to die at the hands of youth with knives, who aren’t malicious in their intent but causing death to so many Australians?”

She asked when the justice system would “bridge the gap” between truly accidental deaths and instilling harsher penalties “for those (cases) where the lines are blurred towards murder”.

“This is not a case of a single stab wound. This is an attack of seven stab wounds on an unarmed father in the rear of his own home,” she said.

She noted mandatory punishments were in place for coward punches, yet “knife crime is rife and criminals are essentially getting off lightly with nothing but excuses in culpability due to rampant unchecked drug use”.

In sentencing Clifford, Justice Incerti said the killing was a “cowardly and reckless act” that eroded the community’s fragile sense of safety in their neighbourhoods and “must be denounced and met with just punishment”.

However, Clifford will be released one day, Justice Incerti said, and therefore his prospects of rehabilitation needed to be “maximised”.

Justice Incerti acknowledged the “terrible effect” Clifford’s actions had had on Mr Grapsas’ family, friends and the Geelong community, but said victim impact was “only one” of a number of factors a sentencing judge must consider.

She told the court she was satisfied that the stabbing was reactive, spontaneous and brief, however noted Clifford “elected to use a deadly weapon to stab an unarmed man seven times.”

She found Clifford’s moral culpability to be in the “upper-mid range”, reduced, in part, by a traumatic brain injury he sustained in 2021.

Justice Incerti opted for a longer than usual parole period due to Clifford’s youth and the fact he had “not yet developed adequate skills” for living in the community.

The 18-months he’s spent in custody has been the longest period Clifford has remained drug free since he began abusing drugs in his teens and during that time he had been working in the prison kitchens,

Justice Incerti said Clifford had displayed “genuine remorse”, will “live with regret every day” and shown insight into the “harm and devastation” he had caused.

She found Clifford had a “reasonable” prospect of rehabilitation, however it hinged on him remaining drug and alcohol free.

If he relapses into drug use, his cognitive function will “deteriorate rapidly” and he was likely to reoffend, the court heard.

The Office of Public Prosecutions did not say whether it would appeal the sentence when contacted by the Geelong Advertiser, but a spokeswoman said all sentences were reviewed “as a matter of course”.

Originally published as Bailey Clifford jailed for killing Paul Grapsas