Blake Davis: Alleged samurai sword killer wants bail altered amid COVID-19
A former actor charged over the murder of a home invader in Sydney’s inner west wants to delete his police bail reporting conditions to protect his sick mum from coronavirus risks.
Police & Courts
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A former Sydney actor accused of a suburban samurai sword slaying wants to stop reporting to police while on bail due to coronavirus risks.
Blake Davis, 30, and his 25-year-old barista girlfriend Hannah Quinn were charged with murdering aspiring rapper Jett McKee following a botched home invasion in the city’s inner west in 2018.
The couple currently live in the Blue Mountains at the home of Davis’ mother, who has a severe lung condition making any COVID-19 infection potentially “fatal”, the NSW Supreme Court heard.
On Wednesday Davis applied to suspend his police bail reporting obligations, with his lawyer arguing the dangers of spreading the deadly disease were higher given recent instances of people spitting on officers.
“The current pandemic poses a very substantial risk. The virus is invisible, transmission is undetectable and many people will be asymptomatic,” Abigail Bannister said.
“No one knows how long it will persist for and how long the restrictions will be in place.”
The lovers had originally planned to apply to further relax their bail conditions together, but Quinn withdrew her application at the end of Davis’ hearing.
Davis supports his pensioner mum in managing her advanced chronic illness at their Lawson home, and he’s worried about attending Katoomba police station every weekday.
The unemployed 30-year-old wants to self-isolate at home, and his solicitor says getting transport each day also jeopardises the health of the greater community, with 164 known cases of COVID-19 currently in the Blue Mountains area.
“The statistics appear to be changing on a daily and hourly basis,” Ms Bannister said.
Ms Bannister pointed to Victoria, where last week bail reporting conditions were halted for all alleged offenders due to social-distancing measures.
The Crown opposed the application, noting the pair’s reporting obligations have already been reduced from seven days to five while they abide by a night-time curfew and Davis wears an electronic monitoring bracelet.
Prosecutor Chris Taylor said over the past few weeks police have detected “significant movement” from Davis, pointing to three instances where he left the house for reasons other than court appearances, legal appointments or medical emergencies.
“Purchasing a car doesn’t seem to fit within any of those categories,” Justice Robertson Wright SC said.
Mr Taylor said the current coronavirus laws allow for bail reporting, and he emphasised the serious nature of Davis’ alleged attack which occurred in broad daylight on a suburban street,
Davis’ legal team has previously told the court there would be no issue at trial that he sliced the 30-year-old would-be robber’s head open outside his flat in August 2018.
But Ms Bannister said whether Davis had acted in self defence and to protect his partner, and whether there was “extreme provocation” during the ill-fated shakedown would be “a very live issue.”
Police allege McKee, wearing a balaclava and carrying a fake gun and pepper spray, attacked Davis with knuckle dusters at their home.
But McKee allegedly abandoned the robbery when Davis grabbed a samurai sword, with witnesses describing a “chubby” shirtless man wearing nothing but white boxer shorts chasing another man out into the street.
Police allege Quinn reached the would-be thief first around 100m up the road and flung him to the ground by his jacket, before her boyfriend delivered the fatal strike.
As McKee bled to death a male companion who had driven him to the suburb ran to his aid but soon fled the scene and flew to Singapore the next day, police allege.
The couple’s six-week trial has been slated for November and Justice Wright reserved his decision on Davis’ bail variation bid.