Joshua Roy Grant given minimum jail term over ‘savage, brutal’ murder of Mark Boyce
He was part of a savage and unjustified ambush that killed an innocent man instead of its target – but a judge has ruled his crime deserves the minimum penalty available at law.
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A man with links to outlaw bikie gangs will serve the legal minimum jail term over the “savage, brutal and completely unjustified” ambush murder of an innocent man.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ordered Joshua Roy Grant serve a life sentence, with at least 20 years spent behind bars, for his role in the death of Mark Boyce.
In sentencing, Justice Tim Stanley said Grant and two other men had targeted a completely different person, but fatally bashed Mr Boyce instead.
“The attack was savage, brutal and completely unjustified,” he said.
“The utter pointlessness of Mr Boyce’s death can only accentuate the grief of those who knew and loved him.”
However that sentence – the mandatory minimum prescribed by state law – came as little comfort to Mr Boyce’s father, Malcolm.
“Joshua Grant and his accomplices took the life of my only son and that’s a life sentence for me,” he said outside court.
“His sentence will never, as far as I’m concerned, ever be long enough.
“I realise he got the minimum, but that’s how the law is.”
Grant, 27, of Andrews Farm, was found guilty of one count of murder.
Prosecutors alleged he was one of the three men who kicked, punched and stomped Mr Boyce to death near his Hill St, Elizabeth South, home in January 2017.
They alleged the fatal ambush took just 20 seconds – but that Mr Boyce was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”, as the bikies had intended to attack another man.
That man, whose identity is suppressed, has told the court he blames himself every day for causing the death of his “best mate”.
Two weeks ago, Mr Boyce’s father, Malcolm, said the murder had scarred him for life – and urged police to find and arrest the other two assailants involved.
Previous court hearings have been told Grant had links to the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gang.
On Tuesday, Justice Stanley conceded Grant’s role in the attack was “not as aggressive” as the other two men.
That, he said, placed his offending “at the lower end of the objective range of seriousness”, warranting the 20-year non-parole period.
“I’m satisfied you were, and remained throughout the beating, an active participant (and) you did nothing to stop the attack,” he said.
“While I accept you did not inflict the fatal blows, your part in restricting Mr Boyce made him particularly vulnerable to the lethal beating administered by others.”
Outside court, Mr Boyce’s father, Malcolm, said he remained hopeful police would make more arrests.
“The more evidence they get, the sooner they get them,” he said.
“That would put closure to it for us, to a certain extent.”
