Road rage killer Benjamin Joshua George warned victim Troy McLean before stabbing him at Salisbury, court told
On a drug-binge and sleep-deprived, Benjamin George completely lost it when his car was nudged from behind at a Salisbury intersection.
A road rage killer told his victim “I warned you” before stabbing him in the heart in response to his car being “nudged” from behind at a northern-suburbs intersection, a court has heard.
Benjamin Joshua George, 27, of Elizabeth East previously pleaded guilty to the murder of Troy James McLean, 34, over the November 25, 2017, incident at a Waterloo Corner Road intersection.
During a pre-sentence hearing on Friday, the court heard Mr McLean unintentionally “nudged” the back of George’s sedan at the intersection, prompting him to fling open his door, approach the victim’s car and stab him.
The court heard he said “I warned you” before plunging the knife into Mr McLean.
Taryn Amos, prosecuting, told the court CCTV footage of the incident showed George then continuing to chase the victim at the intersection before getting back into his car.
“There were two wounds to Mr McLean’s body, one to the upper left abdomen and one to the posterior left chest wall,” she said.
The incident lasted a little over a minute before George left and Mr McLean attempted to drive himself to the Lyell McEwin Hospital.
The court previously heard Mr McLean crashed on the way to the hospital. He was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for emergency surgery but died from his injuries three days later.
Ms Amos said photos from George’s mobile phone show a bloodied hand and knife, but police have never found that knife.
Heath Barklay SC, for George, said his client — who had endured a “marked decline in his mental health” in the years before the incident — had been under the influence of drugs and not slept in days before the attack.
“There wasn’t too much going through George’s mind at the time he caused the injuries in the sense that he had been up for many days, was heavily affected by drugs,” he said.
“He was extremely affected by drugs and by a lack of sleep and has very little recollection of the events and is unable to recall much more than that.”
Mr Barklay said George had not intended to kill Mr McLean but instead intended to cause him grievous bodily harm.
He said he would be seeking the court impose a non-parole period of less than the 20-year mandatory minimum for murder because George had pleaded guilty to the offence.
Mr Barklay said George’s reaction to his vehicle being nudged “came out of nowhere” and he had not formed a specific intent to kill Mr McLean.
He said his client had severe anxiety and mental health problems at the time, which he had been medicating with a cocktail of drugs, some of which were prescribed.
“He lived the life of a hermit, confined in large part to his house, too anxious to leave.”
He asked the court to adjourn the matter for further submissions for the provision of a psychiatric report.
George will return to court for another pre-sentence hearing in October.