Peniola Liu’s fatal assault on Alex Ollson was about “teaching a lesson”, Innisfail murder trial hears

Peniola Liu accepts he caused the unlawful death of Alex Ollson at an Innisfail taxi rank. But what he intended goes to the heart of the murder case.

In his summing up of a three-day murder trial, Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane put it to jurors that it was in human nature for someone to “act in the red mist”, but that they might regret their actions later.

Peniola Liu, 32, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Alex Ollson on Saturday, December 19, 2020, at a taxi rank at Edith Street in Innisfail.

On Wednesday the legal teams made their final addresses to the jury.

Defence counsel Michael Dalton focused mainly on “intent”, and what Mr Liu intended when he assaulted Mr Ollson.

Alex Ollson, 28, was fatally assaulted by Peniola Liu at Edith Street in Innisfail in December 2020. He left behind a partner and two young children.

Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane’s summing up focused largely on the reliability or otherwise of the witnesses nearly two years after the fatal assault.

Mr Dalton told jurors that Mr Liu had agreed he was angry, and that he wanted to teach Mr Ollson a lesson after what he believed was an insult to his partner Kirsty Kora.

“He was being truthful with you,” Mr Dalton told jurors.

“Ultimately he says to you, ‘My intent was not to kill or to cause serious grievous bodily harm’.

A presumption of innocence

“You should start with the presumption that he is innocent. What was going on in his head is the central issue.

“The prosecution must prove he had the specific intention to kill Mr Ollson or to cause him grievous bodily harm. Anything less is manslaughter. He accepts he unlawfully killed Mr Ollson.

“In my submission, as bad as Mr Liu’s actions were, you would have seen something more. What does he do each time after he knocked him down? He stops.

“He’s not stomping on him, kicking him, standing over the top of him and repeatedly kicking him.

“This is completely consistent with his intent, what this case is about, (which) was to knock him down, to teach him a lesson.”

Prosecutor Nathan Crown told the jurors that someone who tells you what’s in their mind or about their state of mind is only useful if you can believe it.

Jurors in the three-day trial of Peniola Liu will retire to consider their verdict after Chief Justice Helen Bowskill sums up.

Ordinary people come into courtrooms to speak about traumatic things that happened two years ago, he said.

“It has taken two years for this matter to come to this court.

“This doesn’t help witnesses. Alcohol can affect them. They are all features that can affect reliability.

“In respect of Kirsty Kora, she’s not weighed down by the effect of alcohol consumption in terms of reliability.

“She tells us she was at the corner, but the footage shows her coming from the direction of the car park.

“She tells us she was only five or 10 steps away, but the footage shows that’s not right.”

“She says she heard Mr Ollson repeat the insult ‘big hole’ and there’s not a witness at that taxi rank who heard that.”

Act in the “red mist”

He put it to jurors that they might accept it was human nature for someone to “act in the red mist”, and that they might regret their actions later.

He told jurors that Mr Liu cared about the consequences of his actions to himself, and asked them if he was weighing up prison time and not seeing his own son again, or that a 28-year-old father of two had lost his life.

Chief Justice Helen Bowskill will sum up the trial on Thursday before jurors retire to consider their verdict.

Originally published as Peniola Liu’s fatal assault on Alex Ollson was about “teaching a lesson”, Innisfail murder trial hears