Mundubbera murder: Trevor Spencer appeals guilty finding

He has always maintained his innocence, now one of the men jailed for murdering Queensland father Gary Ryan is fighting his conviction in the Queensland Court of Appeal.

One of two men jailed for the murder of Central Queensland father Gary Ryan is fighting his conviction in the Queensland Court of Appeal.

Trevor Spencer, 74, and Mark Stephen Crump, 38, were both sentenced to life in prison after the pair drove more than 1000km to ambush Mr Ryan, stabbing him with swords and leaving him to bleed to death.

Crump pleaded guilty to murder, while a jury found Spencer guilty of murdering Mr Ryan at his property in Mundubbera on August 23, 2016.

Gary Ryan, 43, died after he was attacked by two men at his Mundubbera property on August 23, 2016.

Mr Ryan was at home with his mother Jeanette and 15-year-old daughter, who found him found him lying in a pool of blood and desperately tried to keep him conscious until the ambulance arrived.

Throughout the trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court, Spencer’s defence argued that he should have been found guilty of manslaughter, not murder.

Minutes after the jury came back with it guilty verdict last year, Spencer told the judge: “Your Honour I’d like to just reaffirm that I am not guilty with anything to do with the murder of Gary Ryan.”

Spencer’s appeal was heard in the Court of Appeal this morning, where his barrister argued that the conviction was unjust because there had been “inadequacies” with the directions that the judge had given the jury.

The Court of Appeal reserved its decision to a later date.