Illawarra: Stephen Staff sentenced to jail after Matthew Davis killing

A former fitness trainer showed “callousness and cowardice” when he bashed Matthew Davis to death in his Illawarra home. More than two years on, the man responsible has been sentenced.

Stephen Staff was found guilty of manslaughter. Picture: Facebook

A former fitness trainer will spend the next few years behind bars after invading a man’s Illawarra home and bashing him to death.

On May 9, 2024, a jury found Stephen Staff, 68, guilty of the manslaughter of Matthew Davis following a trial in the Supreme Court in Wollongong.

Staff sat in the dock at the Supreme Court in Sydney on Friday, where he was sentenced to six years behind bars with a non parole period of four years and three months.

During the week-long trial earlier this year, the jury heard how Staff, along with two other men, entered Davis’ Warilla home on August 21, 2021, where Davis was bashed to death.

He was 31-years-old.

Matthew Davis was killed in his Warilla home in 2021. Picture: NSW Police

Staff – whose DNA was later found at the scene – was the only man charged in relation to the incident.

The 68-year-old was initially charged with murder eight months after Davis’ death, however he was acquitted of this allegation during the trial and instead convicted of manslaughter.

The court previously heard a friend of Mr Davis found him dead inside his home two days after the killing.

Crown prosecutor Nerissa Keay told the jury during Staff’s trial, that the reason for the attack was not clear.

However, jurors heard Mr Davis struggled with a gambling addiction – mostly related to football and online poker – and may have had unpaid debts at the time of his death.

Defence barrister Tony Evers told the jury Staff entered the home after the attack began – a fact noted by Justice Julia Lonergan on Friday.

Stephen Staff’s trial took place in the Wollongong Courthouse. Picture: Dylan Arvela

The court heard Staff’s DNA was found on a bloodied tea towel in the victim’s laundry and under the 31-year-old’s fingernails.

Staff’s sentencing comes after the court heard victim impact statements from members of Davis’ family in August this year, including from his mother, Ms Brightmore, who spoke of her pain.

“A few days after the trial ended, it was Mother’s Day,” she told the court.

“I didn’t get a call this year. I won’t get a call from him again.”

Meanwhile, Davis’ stepfather, Dan Prestige, said he missed his stepson and still struggled to sleep.

“We had a close relationship; we would drink, laugh, have a punt,” he said.

“Now there’s no more laughs, no more chats.”

Justice Lonergan referenced the impact statements during her Judgement, speaking directly to Davis’ family members.

“I acknowledge that no sentence I impose will ever seem to be enough to recognise and reflect the harm caused and the loss suffered by all of you and everybody who loved and knew Matthew,” she said.

Before handing down her Judgement, Justice Lonergan labelled the killing an “appalling exhibition of callousness and cowardice”.

Justice Lonergan acknowledged Staff’s lack of a criminal history, his prior employment as an Illawarra-based fitness trainer and a psychiatric report which pointed out issues derived from historic alcohol abuse.

However, she said the offending was too serious and questioned the legitimacy of his remorse.

“I do not accept the offender tried to help Mr Davis at all [during the attack],” she said.

“The obvious way to help him would be to place him in a recovery position and call triple-zero. He did neither of those things.”

Justice Lonergan said this type of offending needed to be discouraged.

“Engaging in this type of callous buggery has serious consequences,” she said.

Staff will be eligible for release in August 2026, given his sentence was backdated.

Got a news tip? Email us at [e-mail]