Baseball bat ‘snapped’ as man beat girlfriend’s drug-dealing ex-lover to death during robbery: court

The injuries of a man who was beaten to death by his ex-lover’s boyfriend during a home robbery gone wrong have been revealed.

A man who murdered his girlfriend’s ex-lover by beating him to death with a bat and tennis racquet – hitting him so hard they “snapped” and broke – has asked a court to overturn his life sentence for a second time.

Mark Vincent Dayney’s renewed appeal of his conviction comes less than two years after being found guilty of killing Mark “Zeb” Spencer during a botched robbery on the Gold Coast in 2014.

Dayney had previously been jailed for life in 2018 but this was overturned on appeal two years later and a retrial ordered.

But a jury again returned a unanimous verdict on the murder charge in November 2021 and he was again jailed for life.

Dayney launched another appeal of this sentence, arguing the jury had not been directed properly on a specific issue of self-defence first raised during his initial trial in 2018.

Mark ‘Zeb’ Spencer (pictured) was found dead at his Coomera home in October 2014 from substantial injuries after Mark Vincent Dayney beat him to death with a baseball bat and wooden tennis racquet – both of which broke from the force of the blows. Picture: Supplied

But this was rejected by Queensland’s Court of Appeal judges Debra Mullins, Jean Dalton and David Boddice.

“There is no warrant to start dissecting or compartmentalising the results of the force used in self-defence during the course of one continuous struggle,” Justice Dalton stated.

During his trial, the court was told Mr Spencer had booked sex worker Peta Lorang-Goubran – his former lover and Dayney’s then-girlfriend – for a private session in the early hours of the morning of October 1, 2014.

Dayney knew Mr Spencer was an ice user and went along, seeking a further source of the drug.

The court was told Dayney was “dressed in black like a burglar should be” and was masked when he and Mr Spencer got into a scuffle at the house.

Mr Spencer was then beaten to death by Dayney with a wooden baseball bat and tennis racquet, parts of which were found near his battered and bruised body.

The force of the blows was so severe the baseball bat “snapped” and the head of the racquet broke.

Dayney had won a retrial on his first appeal in 2020 but another bid to have his life sentence overturned was quashed by the Court of Appeal this year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Part of the racquet head was broken and the thicker end of the wooden bat was found snapped off a few metres from Mr Spencer’s body, the court was told.

In his appeal hearing, Dayney had argued the jury was incorrectly directed over whether he acted in self-defence.

Dayney himself had given evidence Mr Spencer pulled out a small silver gun from between his legs before the fight started.

During the first appeal in 2018, the court noted: “The appellant believed that Mr Spencer had other weapons available … (and) said that he needed to subdue Mr Spencer entirely if he was to effect a safe escape.

Dayney’s defence counsel had argued the jury in his new trial had been incorrectly instructed in accordance with his 2020 appeal decision – specifically that Dayney was trying to stop Mr Spencer from killing him with a weapon.

“His counsel argues the … point which did not succeed in 2020 and acknowledges that this argument can only succeed if the court is of the opinion the 2020 appeal decision is ‘plainly wrong’,” the judgment states.

Justice Dalton stated the 2020 appeal decision was “not plainly wrong” and the proper focus was at the time the necessity arose, not the time of the act which caused Mr Spencer’s death.

“Well before the appellant here struck the blow which caused Mr Spencer’s death, he struck blows which must have caused him bodily harm and grievous bodily harm,” the judgment states.

Dayney’s appeal was unanimously dismissed.

Originally published as Baseball bat ‘snapped’ as man beat girlfriend’s drug-dealing ex-lover to death during robbery: court