John Durie’s family medical records could be key in Wycheproof one-punch case

Medical records uncovered in recent days could be crucial to a jury’s decision in a Wycheproof one-punch manslaughter case.

Medical records uncovered in the middle of a country electrician’s one-punch manslaughter trial show his alleged victim had a family history of sudden and fatal brain haemorrhages.

Dane McLennan, 28, of Wycheproof, has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of family friend John Durie, 56, a charge stemming from a brief, drunken scuffle around the pool table at the Wycheproof golf club in 2019.

On Monday, a Supreme Court jury in Shepparton was told Mr Durie’s father, Graeme Durie, died of a massive brain haemorrhage in 2004.

Medical records detailing how he died were uncovered from the Bendigo Hospital late last week, and over the weekend, following an exhaustive search.

John Durie, 56, died after a fatal play fight during a golf tournament.

Dane McLennan, 28, has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of John Durie.

The court heard about two per cent of the general population develop a brain aneurysm — a “bubble” on a blood vessel that is weak, and which can burst with sudden, sometimes fatal consequences.

One of the experts in the case, Dr Cindy Iles, said people with a family history of brain aneurisms had an increased risk of developing one themselves.

The precise location of the rupture in Mr Durie’s carotid artery was rare, and experts are divided on how likely it was that Mr Durie’s injuries were the result of a natural aneurysm, as opposed to a blow to the head.

Dr Iles said the discovery of Mr Durie’s father’s medical records only meant Mr Durie was more likely to develop an aneurysm at some point, but that it didn’t change her opinion — based on her examination of his brain — that Mr Durie did not have an aneurysm before the vessel burst.

In the hours after Mr Durie’s death, McLennan admitted to investigating officers that he struck Mr Durie once to the head and that the older man immediately collapsed and turned blue.

He never regained consciousness.

The defence case is that Mr Durie’s internal carotid artery could have burst naturally, as a result of his high blood pressure, his heavy drinking that night, and his spirited, physical “horseplay” with McLennan.

McLennan’s legal team also argued their client could have been lawfully defending himself from the much larger, older man, who the trial has heard was prone to play-fighting with mates when drinking.

The trial, before Justice Lesley Ann Taylor, continues.