Man accused of the brutal murder of Gold Coast ice dealer Mark Spencer found guilty

MARK Dayney was on bail for the rape of a sex-worker when hatched a plan to rob and attack Gold Coast father Mark “Zeb” Spencer in 2014.

• The night Mark Spencer was murdered

MARK Dayney was on bail for the rape of a sex-worker when hatched a plan to rob and attack Gold Coast father Mark “Zeb” Spencer in 2014.

He will now spend the next 20 years behind bars after being sentenced to life imprisonment for what Justice James Douglas today described as a “sustained attack” that used “brutal and significant violence” against Mr Spencer.

Mr Spencer died at his home in Coomera on October 1, 2014 after being bludgeoned to death following a botched robbery.

A Brisbane Supreme Court jury this afternoon found Dayney guilty of the slaying, following a two week trial.

During sentencing, the court heard Dayney was on bail for a “premeditated attack on a sex-worker” at the time he committed the murder.

He was sentenced to seven years’ jail for rape and sexual assault while armed in June 2015, after being arrested for Mr Spencer’s murder in December 2014.

The court heard Dayney had raped and sexually assaulted the woman in an isolated area before threatening her with a weapon.

The court heard that Mark Spencer was thought of by friends as a “fun-loving larrikin”.

Dayney was also sentenced over the attempted armed robbery of Mr Spencer on October 1, 2014 — the night of his death.

Crown prosecutor David Finch told the court Dayney had acted in a “deliberate, considered and planned” way on the night of the killing.

“The level of violence was brutal and persistent,” he said.

Defence barrister Angus Edwards told the court his client was remorseful, despite having contested the charge of murder at trial.

“My client is remorseful and he has conveyed that to the family and they did not react in a negative way to that,” he said.

“He looks upon the man who committed this offence as someone unrecognisable to him.”

The court heard Dayney had apologised the Mr Spencer’s family in the courtroom after being convicted of the murder and waiting sentence.

Outside court, Mr Spencer’s family said the apology was “too late”.

Dayney was sentenced to four years in jail for the attempted armed robbery, but the sentence will be served concurrently with the life sentence for Mr Spencer’s murder.

Originally published as Man accused of the brutal murder of Gold Coast ice dealer Mark Spencer found guilty