Teen guilty of manslaughter in fatal stabbing over missing jewellery

A teenager has been found guilty of manslaughter after he fatally stabbed a stranger on an inner-Brisbane main road, following a confrontation over a piece of lost jewellery.

A teen has been found guilty of manslaughter after a fatal stabbing in Wilston.

A youth has been found guilty of manslaughter by a jury after he stabbed a passer-by on an inner-Brisbane main road last year, following a confrontation over a piece of lost jewellery.

The now 18-year-old male, who was 17 at the time and cannot be identified, had admitted to causing the death of 43-year-old David George Connolly, but pleaded not guilty to his murder on the basis of self defence.

Mr Connolly was stabbed in the chest by the youth with a knife containing a 26cm blade that caused a 14-15cm wound to his left lung shortly after midnight on January 22, 2023 in Wilston in Brisbane’s inner-north.

Following three days of evidence and legal arguments in the Brisbane Supreme Court trial, the jury deliberated for more than six hours over two days before delivering their verdicts late on Thursday.

They returned a not-guilty verdict for the murder charge, but found the juvenile guilty of the alternative manslaughter charge.

The juvenile’s family was silent in the courtroom during the verdicts and showed little reaction. The youth himself sat in the dock tensely leaning forward as he learned his fate.

Around the time the fatal blow was delivered, CCTV footage picked up what crown prosecutor Michael Gawrych alleged was the youth speaking aggressively.

“The crown says that you should be able to make out such words as ‘I’ll f**k you up c**t’, ‘don’t f**k with me’ and ‘come on c**t’,” Mr Gawrych said during the trial.

Mr Gawrych told the jury the evidence was that Mr Connolly repeatedly denied having the missing chain in question and was trying to walk away, whereas the youth was the one being confrontational and wouldn’t leave Mr Connolly be, before he pulled out the knife.

The juvenile claimed he got the knife from a friend some time prior to the incident and only had it for protection purposes as he and his girlfriend were homeless at the time.

“Consider what rational and possible reason is there for a 17-year-old to carry such a weapon around in public?” Mr Gawrych told the jury.

“[The accused’s version of events] is clearly designed by him to retrospectively justify why he killed an unarmed man … his version is illogical and not supported by the evidence … he was trying to set up to you ladies and gentlemen why he felt he needed to use that knife.”

The accused gave evidence in his own defence on Tuesday, telling the jury he had asked Mr Connolly if he had picked up his girlfriend’s lost chain as he walked by, before claiming that Mr Connolly became angry with the repeated questioning and started punching him.

In his closing statement to the jury before deliberations began, defence barrister Michael Bonasia argued that CCTV footage, which allegedly captured low-quality audio of the incident, supported his client’s version of events by picking up keywords such as “chain”.

Mr Bonasia reminded the jury of his client’s testimony that he had taken “multiple punches to the head” from Mr Connolly and was being backed into a fence when he pulled the knife.

“I was overcome with fear, almost frozen. I pulled out the knife, trying to make him stop the attack. I just swung at him, I think my eyes were closed, I wasn’t aiming at anything … I thought I was going to die,” Mr Bonasia said, quoting his client’s explanation.

Mr Bonasia said the jury must be satisfied that his client had the intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm to Mr Connolly – it was not enough for them to simply conclude that the juvenile had the intention to possess a knife in a public place or stab someone.

“[My client] didn’t exaggerate, he didn’t embellish, he was consistent, he made concessions when he needed to, and those are the markers of an honest and reliable witness,” Mr Bonasia told the jury in reference to the juvenile’s testimony.

During the trial, a police officer – Senior Constable Carlos Sanchez – told the jury of his interaction with the juvenile that night.

Snr Con Sanchez said he was driving along Newmarket Rd when he saw a juvenile in a black hoodie running and decided to stop him.

The officer located a knife on him and saw it had some blood on it, he checked a police database for any nearby offences, but nothing showed up.

Snr Con Sanchez said a girl – the youth’s girlfriend – then came running up to them clearly agitated and yelling about a necklace.

At this time, the stabbing had not been reported and Mr Connolly’s body had not been found.

The now-convicted killer was remanded in custody on Thursday and he will be sentenced in Brisbane Supreme Court at a later date to be decided.