Michael Thomas Rae sentenced for manslaughter of Wes Prentice at Cooks Hill
A parolee who shot a man dead during an escalating argument in a Newcastle unit over an old debt has learnt his fate. Read what happened in court.
Newcastle
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A would-be honours student who has spent almost 90 per cent of the last 14 years in custody has been jailed for at least another five over the shooting death of a man during a physical fight over an unpaid debt.
The stink inside a Housing NSW unit in Newcastle in 2021 turned deadly after verbals between Michael Thomas Rae and Wes Prentice escalated when Rae pulled a loaded gun from his pants.
“What are you going to be do, shoot me,” Mr Prentice said to Rae, who replied: “I should shoot you right f--king now c--t.”
The pair began to “grapple” before the gun went off, piercing Mr Prentice’s chest and causing his death.
Rae, now aged 39, fled the scene but was arrested 10 later on the mid-north coast. He was initially charged with murder and was expected to face a trial earlier this year before prosecutors accepted a guilty plea to manslaughter by unlawful and dangerous act.
And Justice Natalie Adams told the NSW Supreme Court in Newcastle on Thursday that the shooting was accidental although the evidence left her unable to determine who started the physical altercation in the unit on Darby St at Cooks Hill on July 22, 2021.
Justice Adams said Rae’s decision to pull the gun from his pants after arguing with 40-year-old Mr Prentice about a debt he owed was a “very serious escalation”.
The shooting came after Rae had confronted Mr Prentice inside the unit moments after the dead man had arrived to buy cannabis for another man.
Although Rae had told the resident he would not cause any trouble, he called Mr Prentice into another room where the chat turned into an argument before it became physical and Mr Prentice was shot.
In sentencing Rae to a maximum of nine years jail for the manslaughter, Justice Adams spoke of Rae’s life spiralling out of control following the separate suicides of both his parents when he was a young man.
The court heard a “clearly intelligent” Rae had slipped into drug addiction and crime – many times involving guns – and that he had spent “87.9 per cent” since he was arrested in 2010 for shooting a man in the thigh.
He had finished his HSC while in custody and had opportunities for a university honours degree but instead continued his life of serious crime and drug use.
Justice Adams found Rae’s reticence to properly treat his bipolar disorder had also contributed to his long incarcerations and read out a letter penned by Rae which, the judge found, showed genuine remorse for the death.
And although the judge found Rae’s moral culpability was lessened due to his mental health battles and other issues, she also found aggravating factors including that he was still on parole for his role in the theft of 39 guns from a Newcastle storage facility when he killed Mr Prentice.
Justice Adams sentenced Rae to the maximum of nine years with a non-parole period of five years and six months.
He will not be eligible for parole on April 20, 2029.
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