Michael Henley and Joshua Rossborough sentenced over road rage death of Nick Darling

A man who repeatedly rammed another car amid a fit of rage over his ex – killing its passenger – has been jailed for more than a decade.

A man who used his car “as a weapon” and repeatedly ramming another car during a chase until it rolled three times, killing passenger and father-to-be Nick Darling, has been jailed for 14 years.

Michael Charles Henley, 24, of Morphett Vale “flew into a rage” after learning another man, Lewis Bennett – who was friends with Mr Darling – had slept with his former partner.

On the same day, Mr Bennett and Mr Darling approached Henley after discovering he had damaged Mr Bennett’s car.

Henley then began a car chase along streets in the southern suburbs, including through public parks, while driving at “such speed that it caused sparks to fly up underneath as you drove over speed humps”, Justice Sandi McDonald said.

He then began ramming the ute Mr Bennett was driving and in which Mr Darling was a passenger.

Nick Darling and Michael Henley.

Henley, and Joshua Shawn Rossborough, 21, of Morphett Vale – a passenger in Henley’s car – were each sentenced in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Joshua Rossborough outside the District Court. Picture: NCA NewsWIRE / Emma Brasier

In sentencing, Justice McDonald said Henley “rammed the ute with such force that you caused it to roll three times, resulting in the instantaneous death of Mr Darling” about 9.50pm on July 20, 2021.

She said Henley’s “most egregious” driving began when he continually rammed the ute while Mr Bennett and Mr Darling were out of their vehicle attempting to reconnect a battery. The chase continued after the battery was reconnected.

“You saw what happened to the ute as it rolled three times across the road. You could have been under no misapprehension that someone inside was, at the very least, seriously injured,” Justice McDonald said.

“Your response was to flee the scene, to leave them there dead or injured.

“If that is not reprehensible enough, when (another passenger) told you to stop because he thought that you had killed them you responded by saying: ‘I don’t want you to make me feel like a c**t …. I don’t really give a f**k, they ruined my life’. I don’t really care if one of them died.’”

Henley then abandoned the car he had been driving in a quarry and torched it.

Justice McDonald said she must sentence on the basis Henley did not intend the consequences of his actions, but “this was not an accident”.

“You used your vehicle as a weapon to attack the occupants of the other car,” she said.

She said Henley’s plea to manslaughter, after originally being charged with the more serious crime of murder, was a “sensible resolution” because in her view “given the nature of your conduct you were at risk of being found guilty of the more serious charge of murder had the matter proceeded to trial”.

She said Henley, who has since shown remorse, had endured a “bleak’” upbringing and an “extreme volatility and inability to navigate social interactions and common everyday disappointments and frustrations”.

She said a series of events involving Henley had occurred in the months before Mr Darling was killed.

Screen grab of security footage showing the car chase that killed Nick Darling. Picture: Supreme Court

“The events of July 20, 2021, did not occur in a vacuum, but were a product of a slow burning rage on your part that was fuelled by drug abuse, immature reactions to infidelity and the complete inability on your part to regulate your emotions”.

Justice McDonald said Rossborough’s involvement included loaning Henley the defected car involved. He pleaded guilty to impeding an investigation and driving charges after lying to police in a triple-0 call about the car being stolen before telling police the truth.

Justice McIntyre said the triple-0 call was “a pathetic effort”.

“The only thing that you achieved by that phone call was to draw attention to yourself,” she said.

She suspended a one-year jail term she would have imposed for Rossborough in lieu of a two-year good behaviour bond.

After a discount for his plea, Justice McDonald jailed Henley for 13.5 years with an 11-year non-parole period. He will be eligible for parole in 2032.

Outside court, a police spokeswoman said Mr Darling’s family were “happy with the outcome” but did not wish to comment further.