Clive Whyte faces Supreme Court for stabbing murder of neighbour Martin Bebbington

They spent their spare time hitting the bottle together, but tragically one night it turned deadly for this pair of mates from Alexandra.

Martin Bebbington died after he was stabbed to death by his neighbour Clive Whyte in December 2020. Picture: Supplied

An “intoxicated” man who stabbed his neighbour and drinking partner to death after a night of heavy boozing together should receive a reduced sentence due to his diagnosed alcohol use disorder, a court has heard.

Clive Whyte, 64, appeared at the Supreme Court of Victoria on Tuesday for a pre-sentence hearing.

The former scaffolder murdered his 59-year-old neighbour and friend, Martin Bebbington, by stabbing him multiple times in his home in the state’s northeast on December 6, 2020.

The pair often drank together — both of them partaking “frequently to excess”.

Whyte began drinking alone at his Bayley St flat in Alexandra in December that year.

The 64-year-old then left to buy more alcohol and noticed Bebbington was home when he returned.

In Bebbington’s flat, the two drank until the early hours of the morning.

The Supreme Court heard Whyte experienced “panic” and “disbelief” at what he had done. Picture: Supplied

A Triple-0 operator received a call from Whyte’s neighbour about 1.30am.

“Are you going to stab me with that knife?” Bebbington was heard saying in a recording heard in the Supreme Court in November 2022, where a jury found him guilty of the murder.

Further into the recording, Bebbington screamed four times and dropped the phone as Whyte stabbed him several times.

The jury was told Bebbington could be heard struggling to breathe before he fell silent and the operator continued to try and reach him for more than 24 minutes.

“Clearly from what has taken place on the call, what was said to the operator and the sounds that the operator has heard, the operator detects that something terrible has taken place,” prosecutor Raymond Gibson said at the time.

Whyte then picked up his friend’s phone and said “hey dickhead” and then abused the operator, describing Bebbington as “dead meat”.

“Dead, dead, dead – duh,” Whyte said.

“There was some sort of altercation, I’m not sure.

“He’s ended up dead … He was bashing me and then I retaliated.

“We've both been drinking so it looks like I’m the culprit or f***ing whatever.”

On entering the home, officers discovered a large blood-soaked knife on the kitchen bench and a pool of blood underneath the closed bedroom door.

Bebbington was found face down on the ground.

Mr Gibson told the court on Tuesday the “tragic” murder included “multiple inflictions of injury and stab wounds” and confirmed Whyte’s DNA was located on the knife.

The court heard Whyte experienced “panic” and “disbelief” on what he had done.

“It looks like I would have done something f***ing stupid,” Whyte said in a court document read by Mr Gibson.

“I’m deeply sorry that something happened.”

Defence lawyer Sarah Keating argued Whyte’s “level or moral culpability” was reduced due to the diagnosis of the alcohol disorder and the drinking on the night in question, and argued for a reduced sentence.

Ms Keating also said Whyte was raised in an orphanage in Thornbury as a result of his parents’ “inability” to take care of him.

However Justice Amanda Fox questioned Ms Keating’s submissions.

“How is mental impairment relevant to sentencing?,” Ms Fox said.

Justice Fox said the stabbing was “deliberate” and Whyte was not in “circumstances of self defence”.

She adjourned the sentence to a later date.