Alan William Delaney sentenced over Aaron Baxter’s murder

Queanbeyan man Alan William Delaney will be behind bars until the 2030s after being sentenced for the murder of homeless man Aaron Baxter.

The man who murdered a homeless man on Boxing Day 2019 will remain behind bars until the 2030s.

Queanbeyan man Alan William Delaney 53, was sentenced to 16 years jail with a non parole period of 12 years at the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday.

The sentence was handed down by Justice Desmond Fagan and was backdated to 2019.

Delaney was found in February of murdering homeless man Aaron Baxter, 46, following a five-day trial.

He pleaded guilty to an initial charge of manslaughter which was then upgraded to murder.

Mr Baxter died from a ruptured spleen on Boxing Day 2019 after he was beaten by Delaney underneath Queen’s Bridge in Queanbeyan.

The court heard Mr Baxter suffered serious health issues with Justice Fagan stating the victim’s liver and spleen were diseased.

Justice Desmond Fagan has sentenced Alan William Delaney to 16 years imprisonment over the murder of Aaron Baxter. Supplied

In handing down his sentence Justice Fagan described Delaney’s actions as being on the lower end of seriousness in the scope of murder, noting he left the scene of the crime while Mr Baxter was still alive.

“If he intended to kill he wouldn’t have left,” he said.

Justice Fagan detailed Delaney’s troubled upbringing marred by abuse, and said he struggled with relationships and mental health throughout his adult life.

Earlier during Tuesday’s hearing Dana Souter, the elder sister of Mr Baxter who looks after her brother’s 13 year old intellectually disabled son Charlie, provided a harrowing victim impact statement which was read to the court by Crown Prosecutor Nerissa Keay.

Ms Souter said her brother’s death at the hands of Delaney was “the worst thing that ever happened in my life” and described Mr Baxter as a man who would make time for his family.

“I have an ache that never goes away,” the statement said.

“Some days I want to give up.

“I’m trapped in a nightmare.”

Queanbeyan Man Alan William Delaney will be sentenced in the NSW Supreme Court for the murder of Aaron Baxter.

Ms Souter said her nephew was generally happy and life loving, but was left distressed and confused by his father’s death.

“I have to show Charlie who his father was,” she said.

“The innocence of not knowing violence …(Charlie’s) innocence was taken away by someone who couldn’t control himself.”

Ms Souter said she lived with the daily anxiety that something bad would happen to her nephew.

She said her mother’s mental health severely declined following Mr Baxter’s death now suffering from depressive psychosis and was “convinced” she was to blame for her son’s death.

“Mum was brave (she) was strong for everyone,” she said.

“(My mum) moved to Melbourne and was hospitalised.

“I can’t speak about Aaron with her.

“Mum thinks she has failed him.”

Ms Souter said Aaron was the missing piece of her family, and the festivities of Christmas and Boxing Day had been replaced with trauma following her brother’s death.

“(Christmas and Boxing Day) is filled with fake smiles and walking on eggshells,” she said.

“We are in mourning.

“Aaron was not a perfect person, but he did not deserve to die.

“My mother did not deserve to bury her son.”