Alex Robert Smart lodged appeal for murder conviction

A young man convicted of stabbing a father-of-five at a Bruce Hwy intersection on Father’s Day has lodged an appeal in court.

Alex Robert Smart was convicted of the stabbing murder of a father-of-five. Pictures: Facebook

A man who was convicted of murdering a father-of-five on the Bruce Highway in Gympie has lodged an appeal in the Court of Appeal.

Alex Robert Smart pleaded not guilty to murdering Tylor “TJ” Bell but was found guilty by a Brisbane Supreme Court jury in May, 2022.

The court was told during the trial that Smart was outside a Gympie shopping centre when he and Mr Bell got into a heated argument on Father’s Day, 2019 in the carpark.

After the argument, CCTV captured Mr Bell driving out of the carpark and Smart leaving in the same direction in a silver car.

The silver car and Mr Bell’s ute came to a stop at the intersection of the Bruce Highway and Monkland St.

Smart exited the car, stormed to Mr Bell’s ute and then stabbed him twice, the court heard.

Mr Bell died a week later in hospital.

Smart was 29 years old when he was sentenced – he will spend 20 years in jail before being eligible for parole.

Defence lawyer Chris Anderson represented Smart in Gympie Magistrates Court for separate matters on March 6, 2023.

Smart has been charged with one count of possessing a knife in a public and one of possessing an explosive on August 31, 2019 and one count of possessing a knife in a public place on September 1, 2019.

No plea has been entered regarding these charges.

Mr Anderson asked the court to adjourn for as long as possible to give time for Smart’s appeal to go through court.

He confirmed the appeal was in relation to his murder conviction.

His matters were adjourned to September 4, 2023 for mention.