Adam Bennett enduring tough time in prison for manslaughter of Peter Hillier due to cognitive impairment, court told

A carer who drunkenly attacked and killed his travelling companion has been bullied in jail, a court has heard – and then told the reason why.

A killer carer who drunkenly attacked his traveling companion has been called a “r****d” and will endure a tough time in prison because he suffers a cognitive impairment, a court has heard.

Adam Troy Bennett, 45, appeared in the Supreme Court on Tuesday for a pre-sentence hearing after pleading guilty to a charge of manslaughter over the death of Peter Hillier, 64, while the pair were travelling on the Eyre Peninsula in May 2022.

He had been standing trial for Mr Hillier’s murder behind Dusty’s Art Gallery at Poochera, but the trial was aborted when prosecutors accepted his plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter after evidence from the key witness fell short.

Peter Hillier was killed by his travelling companion Adam Bennett. Picture: supplied by family.

David Moen, for Mr Bennett, told the court his client’s time in custody will be more difficult because his client suffered from a cognitive impairment.

“He has been a target while in custody, (he) has been called a r****d, has been bullied because he is both illiterate and has difficulty with numbers,” he said.

“He is a man who has a significant cognitive impairment … his time in custody would be much harder (and) given the cognitive impairment he will be targeted and exploited.”

He said those cognitive difficulties had also played a part in the lies he had told police in the wake of Mr Hillier’s death.

“As a result of that there’s been not a deliberate deceitful act but a confabulation due to cognitive deficits he suffers,” Mr Moen said.

The campervan Peter Hillier intended to take around Australia after his SA stay. Picture: SAPOL

Patrick Hill, prosecuting, agreed the impairment may impact Mr Bennett’s time in custody, but he said it was unlikely there was a link between Mr Bennett’s cognitive impairment and his offending.

During the trial, the court had heard Bennett had attacked Mr Hillier in a “drunken rage” after they had been drinking for several hours with the art gallery’s owner, Ronald Miller.

It had heard Bennett had straddled Mr Hillier and forcefully pushed a rock into his face.

Prosecutor Patrick Hill had told the court Bennett then told emergency services workers “spectacular lies” in a triple-0 call the next morning, including that he had jumped from a motorhome while driving and ran himself over.

Mr Moen had told the court in an earlier hearing that Bennett had overreacted after the men had argued and his reaction “went beyond what was a natural response”.

In victim impact statements previously read to the court, Mr Hillier’s family members described him as a “very kind, caring and eccentric person” who had a “warm, kind and generous nature”.

They also described Mr Hillier as “funny, thoughtful, compassionate, loving” and said he should not have endured the suffering he did.

Justice Sandi McDonald will sentence Bennett next month.