Jake Scott Ashman sentenced to life for murder of neighbour Darren Ints

A murder trial which heard an “intricate” tale about a mystery third party and later, a killer’s claim’s he stabbed his neighbour in self defence while on the toilet, has ended in a guilty verdict.

A young man who stabbed his neighbour to death has been found guilty of murder despite inventing an “intricate tale” about a bogus third party.

His revised version of events, where he claimed he’d acted in “self defence” after his neighbour walked in on him on the toilet in the bathroom they shared was also rejected.

Jake Scott Ashman, 25, stabbed Darren Ints 34 times in the Granville unit complex where they lived with four of the punctures penetrating the victim’s heart.

Justice Peter Davis handed down his decision on May 27 in the Brisbane Supreme Court after a four-day trial in the Supreme Court in Rockhampton from May 9 to May 12.

During the trial, the court heard two different versions from Ashman about the events of February 17, 2019 – the first when he spoke to police on the day of the murder and the second when he took the stand to give evidence in the trial.

In the 62-page decision published on May 30, Justice Davis described the first version, where Ashman claimed he went into Mr Ints unit to see if he was OK after hearing noises, as “incredible”.

“Not only did Ashman lie and say that he did not kill Mr Ints, he sought to then explain some of his actions by inventing a story about a note having been left in unit three,” Justice Davis wrote in the decision.

Ashman had claimed he found a note instructing the finder to clean up the blood, consume marijuana, not call for any help until the next day and burn the note.

He also claimed the note bore a “winky face” like an emoji.

Police taking Jake Ashman into custody following the murder of Darren Ints at a unit at 146 Cambridge St, Granville.

Ashman said he wiped up some spots of blood, smoked the marijuana and burnt the note before washing the ashes down the sink.

He also said he searched in drawers in Mr Ints’ bedside table looking for money but found none.

In his second version of events, Ashman admitted to the stabbing but said it was in self-defence after Mr Ints stormed into the bathroom armed with a knife and lunged at him as he was getting up from sitting on the toilet.

He claimed he didn’t tell police what really happened because he was ‘embarrassed’.

“I heard a knock on the door … I said ‘hold on, I won’t be long’,” Ashman told the court.

“I heard Darren say ‘well, hurry up because I gotta go’.

“And I said ‘yeah, well, there’s not much I can do … and then I heard him say ‘well, hurry up or I’m going to come in there and sort something out’ so I ended up telling him to ‘f — off’.”

Ashman claimed his neighbour then opened the door and entered the bathroom and, while he was pulling his pants up, he watched Mr Ints “lunge” for a yellow handled knife he’d left on the basin days prior after opening a packet of razors.

He said Mr Ints then attacked him, “lunging” at him with the knife in his right hand and placing his left hand on his throat, causing him to punch back in retaliation and managed to get the knife off Mr Ints and stabbed him.

Justice Davis said it seemed unlikely a knife like that would be used to open a packet of razors.

“It also seems unlikely that the knife would be left in a shared bathroom,” he said.

Justice Davis said the evidence by Queensland Health specialist forensic pathologist Dr Christopher Day that Mr Ints was capable of moving after being stabbed in the heart indicated Mr Ints’ injuries were consistent with a prolonged attack by Ashman rather than the version given by him.

“Ashman’s reaction to the incident was to retreat into his unit, then over a period of time, enter Mr Ints’ unit, find his NAB bank card, go to the BP Service Station, clean up some of the blood and dispose of the knives and some other things.

“For the reasons I have given, I do not rely on those actions as post-offence conduct showing consciousness of guilt.

Jake Scott Ashman, 22, walking into his first appearance at Maryborough Magistrates Court over a charge of murder. Photo – Annie Perets

“However, in my assessment, they are a strange reaction by Ashman to an extremely stressful event which, on his version, was life-threatening to him.

“Those actions are, in my view, inconsistent with the version given by Ashman and, therefore, damage his credit.

“My ultimate rejection of his evidence is not dependent upon any assessment by me of his demeanour.

“Ashman’s account of how he came to stab Mr Ints was, in my view, not logical or credible.”

On the day the decision was handed down, Ashman also pleaded guilty to three counts of enter a dwelling and commit an indictable offence, two of attempted fraud – dishonest application of a bank card, and one count of wilful damage.

Justice Davis sentenced Ashman to life in prison and declared 1195 days presentence custody as time served.