Isaac Powell jailed for manslaughter of Paul Herdman in Hervey Bay

An ice-fuelled fight spilled out into a suburban yard, sparking a wild manhunt and leaving young children without a father. Now, the culprit has been sentenced.

Isaac Powell has been jailed for the attack which caused the death of 45-year-old Paul Herdman.

An afternoon ‘ice’ party at a Hervey Bay home ended in a deadly fight, panicked attempt to hide what had happened and a wild manhunt.

Disturbing details of the events of September 5, 2019 were read out in Bundaberg Supreme Court where Isaac William Powell, 34, pleaded guilty on Monday to the manslaughter of 45-year-old Paul Herdman.

The court heard there was talk on the day Mr Herdman had ‘made a pass’ at the homeowner as well as Powell’s partner Jodie Bailey on a previous occasion while Powell was serving time in jail.

Despite being told not to worry about it, Powell’s jealousy got the best of him and once outside, an altercation broke out.

Isaac Powell was on the run for a number of days after the incident occurred, sparking a manhunt.

Herdman was knocked to the ground, with witnesses seeing blood coming from his mouth.

Powell panicked and was slapping Herdman in the face to try and get him to wake up.

He and his partner were asked to call Triple-0, but they were reluctant as they were both wanted for questioning by police, Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco told the court.

It was It was agreed those present would say Powell and his victim had been sparring and a pair of pink boxing gloves were placed near him to support that story.

Herdman’s partner, who was in the car out the front, was alerted and told to “come quick” because Herdman was either “unconscious, out cold or dead”.

She ran into the yard and saw Herdman lying against the wall, where he had a swollen right eye and blood coming from his nose and was not wearing any protective boxing attire.

Powell was at the front of the property and was heard to be saying “he’s my mate” and “do something we were just sparring” repeatedly and continued “freaking out”.

He was told to leave before Herdman’s partner began first aid after calling paramedics, and a manhunt for Powell began.

The following day, Powell was found in the backyard of an elderly man’s home but escaped police after pushing past, causing an injury to the man and damaging his fence.

Powell was finally caught on September 11, 2019 after being seen at an electrical store by an off-duty police officer.

Days after Powell was caught, Herdman succumbed to his injuries which had placed him in ICU at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

Crown Prosecutor Caroline Marco told the court an autopsy performed on Herdman determined his cause of death to be head injuries.

The court heard the most likely sequence of events was that Herdman sustained an impact of “moderate force” to the left side of his face causing a non-displaced fracture to the jaw.

The blunt-force trauma caused the deceased to fall to the ground, or at least become unsteady on his feet.

The back of Herdman’s head had hit the ground causing “transfer forces” to the front of the head that led to swelling, herniation and brain stem death because of an artery being trapped by a skull fracture.”

Ms Marco told the court Powell had a 15-page criminal history which was littered with drug offences and also offences of violence and his offending was “motivated by jealousy”.

She said he had received periods of imprisonment in the past and had been held in presentence custody for two years and three months, or 824 days.

Powell’s barrister Edward Bassett told the court his client came from a “disadvantaged” background and didn’t have a good education.

Mr Bassett said Powell’s father had died when he was young and his mother was in and out of jail.

Justice Graeme Crow quickly added that Powell had now left Herdman’s children at a “disadvantage” with one of them only 10 years old when he died.

Mr Bassett said his client was remorseful and distressed at the time of the incident and pointed out Powell was told to leave the scene.

Powell was under the influence of ice at the time of the incident and had been a drug user for the majority of his adult life.

Mr Bassett told the court his client would “be his own jailer” if he continued using drugs when eventually released on parole.

Justice Crow told Powell he was a “dangerous man” when on ice.

Justice Crow told Powell during sentencing that when on ice he was a “dangerous man” and that he did not show “full remorse”.

He accepted it wasn’t Powell who came up with the rouse of the “sparring” but noted he did repeat it.

“It shows that when you are on methamphetamine you are a dangerous person who cannot control themself, and that’s a serious aggravating feature,” he said.

“It’s plain that drugs are your problem and it’s plain that, since the age of about 20, for 12 years you were out of control and it’s led to an innocent man dying.”

Powell was sentenced to nine year imprisonment and will be eligible for parole in September 2023 after serving a period of four years.

824 days was declared as time already served.