Armstrong Renata pleads guilty to unlawful striking causing death of Cole Miller

UPDATE: The man accused of delivering the blow that felled Brisbane teenager Cole Miller could be the first person jailed under the state’s one-punch laws after pleading guilty to the fatal attack.

Cole Miller who died after an assault in January.

THE man accused of delivering the blow that felled Brisbane teenager Cole Miller could be the first person jailed under the state’s one-punch laws after pleading guilty to the fatal attack.

Armstrong Renata, 22, entered a plea of guilty to one count of unlawful striking causing the death of Mr Miller, during a hand-up committal hearing in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

He will be sentenced over the January 3 assault at a ­future date in the Brisbane ­Supreme Court.

Renata and co-accused Daniel Maxwell were both charged with the offence, which was introduced in 2014 and carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, after Mr Miller died of massive brain trauma.

Renata will be required to serve 15 years or 80 per cent of a lesser jail sentence.

It’s been previously alleged the attack unfolded in Fortitude Valley as Mr Miller, an elite water polo player, and a friend headed to catch a taxi home.

An illustration of Armstrong Renata in court.

Maxwell allegedly asked Renata if he wanted to “see something funny” before hitting the pair.

Renata then struck Mr ­Miller in the side of the head with enough force to knock him out instantly, causing him to fall forward and hit the pavement.

Crown prosecutor Elise Adams told the Brisbane ­Magistrates Court on Wednesday that they were offering no evidence in relation to Renata’s initial grievous bodily harm charge as it had been replaced with one of unlawful striking causing death.

Defence lawyer Mitchell Cunningham of firm Lawler Magill, for Renata, asked that the matter be transferred to the Supreme Court for ­sentence.

No application for bail was made on Renata’s behalf.

Lawyers for his co-accused Maxwell said that they still intended to defend the ­unlawful striking causing death charge.

Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts said that any death was a tragedy and it was important that the public wait for the sentencing decision and “understand all of the circumstances”.

“When a court comes to sentence anybody in these matters, they have to balance the objective seriousness of the offence — the loss of a life — with all the mitigating factors,” Mr Potts said.

EARLIER

THE man accused of delivering the fatal punch to Cole Miller has pleaded guilty to unlawful striking causing death.

Armstrong Renata, 22, stood in the dock of the Brisbane Magistrates Court this morning where he entered a guilty plea.

Renata and co-accused Daniel Maxwell were both charged under the one-punch laws over the January 3 alleged assault in Fortitude Valley.

Cole died in hospital a day later as a result of massive brain trauma.

Previously, it’s been alleged Maxwell said “do you want to see something funny?” before hitting Cole and a friend.

Renata then allegedly struck Cole in the side of the head with enough force to knock him out instantly. He fell forward and hit the pavement.

Crown prosecutor Elise Adams told the Brisbane Magistrates Court today that they were offering no evidence in relation to Renata’s original grievous bodily harm charge as it had been replaced with one of unlawful striking causing death.

She tendered lists of witnesses and exhibits.

Defence lawyer Mitchell Cunningham, for Renata, asked that the matter be transferred to the Supreme Court for sentence.

Chief Magistrate Ray Rinaudo told Renata, who was dressed in a jersey, to stand up in the prisoner’s dock.

“Your solicitor has consented that you be [committed for sentence in] the Supreme Court in Brisbane on a date to be notified by the Director of Public Prosecutions with respect to one charge that on the 3rd of January, 2016, at Fortitude Valley you unlawfully struck Cole Miller in the head and caused the death ...” he said.

“Do you wish to enter a plea?”

Renata replied: “guilty”.

There was no application for bail.

Renata will be sentenced in the Supreme Court on a date to be notified.