Rard Malcolm Thomas: Found not guilty of unlawfully killing 53-year-old Darren Bennett

A 25-year-old man who was accused of killing his stepfather has been found not guilty by a jury. Here’s the latest.

A jury has acquitted a former military policeman of killing his stepfather during a drunken assault after a three-week trial.

Rard Malcolm Thomas, 25, was found not guilty to charges of manslaughter, assault occasioning death and assault causing death by a person 18 years or more before Dubbo District Court.

The jury took one hour to deliberate before the decision was heard around 12pm on Thursday in Dubbo District Court.

The trial began on September 20 when the jury heard Mr Thomas punched his mother’s husband, 53-year-old husband Darren Bennett during a family wake on May 12, 2021.

Emergency services were called to a home on Nandi St, Coonabarabran, at about 7pm after reports a man was found injured.

Rard Malcolm Thomas has been acquitted on three charges following the death of Darren Bennett.

Mr Bennett was taken to Coonabarabran Hospital and later flown to St George Hospital where he died.

Mr Thomas’s barrister Ben Cochrane told the jury it was not in dispute that his client punched Mr Bennett, but stated it was an act of self-defence.

Mr Cochrane told the court during the trial Mr Thomas was aware of a domestic violence history between his mother Marie and her late husband.

Rard Malcolm Thomas has been acquitted on three charges following the death of Darren Bennett.

He said family and friends were gathered at the residence for an “emotionally charged” wake fuelled with “intoxication”, following the death of a family member.

Witnesses told the courtroom Mr Bennett had a physical altercation with Mr Thomas’s brother Joshua in the backyard, before a confrontation with Mr Thomas in the front yard.

Judge Karen Robinson thanked the jury for their time and told Mr Thomas he was free to leave.

Wearing a suit, Mr Thomas was supported by his family in the courtroom.