Alleged teen killer believed he was being followed by Chinese

A man accused of strangling a sleeping teenager had previously believed he was being followed by the Chinese government, a court has heard.

A man accused of strangling a teenage boy to death experienced signs of psychosis in the years before the incident, including the “bizarre belief” he was being followed by the Chinese government, a court has heard.

Chadley Sheridan, 25, is standing trial over the alleged murder of a 16-year-old boy who died in a Charlestown unit near Newcastle in March last year.

The boy was found dead by his father, who had welcomed Mr Sheridan into the home.

In closing remarks on Monday, Mr Sheridan’s lawyer asked the jury to find him not guilty of murder on grounds of mental impairment.

Both parties in the case were not in dispute over Mr Sheridan’s involvement in the boy’s death, but argued the extent to which his use of the drug ice contributed to his mental state.

The block of units in Charlestown where the teen was found dead. Picture: Amy Ziniak

Mr Sheridan’s first officially recorded psychotic symptoms were in 2018 when he was noted as expressing “bizarre beliefs”.

“The bizarre beliefs were that the Chinese government was somehow interested in him and following him,” court documents stated.

“And that he had some supernatural connection to God.”

Forensic psychologist Olav Nielssen gave evidence during the trial that Mr Sheridan had an “underlying psychotic illness which was exacerbated by drug use” on the night of the alleged murder.

In the days leading up to the incident, Mr Sheridan had both smoked and injected ice and was acting out of character, the court heard.

Mr Sheridan’s brother, who had picked him up on the night before the incident, described him as “completely off”.

“Like, he was distraught – completely not present, damaged, in a really bad headspace,” the brother said.

Mr Sheridan’s sister spoke to him on the phone on the day of the alleged murder, describing him as sounding scared and “like a little child”.

She reported not being able to understand what he was saying and that he “just kind of spoke a few words”.

“He couldn’t really get the words out that she was trying to say,” she said.

Lawyers for Mr Sheridan argued he had an underlying mental impairment at the time of the alleged murder. Picture: Peter Lorimer

A jury is expected to begin deliberating a verdict in the trial this week. Picture: Peter Lorimer

Mr Sheridan had been welcomed into the unit on the night of the alleged murder and remained there alone, with the sleeping teen in the other room, when his father and another person went out for around an hour.

The court heard Mr Sheridan was drinking Woodstock and cola cans and playing PlayStation in the living room at the time they left around 10pm.

Later, the father said he received a call from Mr Sheridan in which he sounded “upset”.

He returned to the unit and sat with Mr Sheridan and the other friend in the lounge room for around 45 minutes, after which he went into his son’s bedroom to turn off a fan.

Upon finding the boy on the floor with blood coming out of his mouth, the father called for the friend to call triple-zero and commenced CPR.

Paramedics were unable to revive the boy.

CCTV footage from a neighbouring property showed Mr Sheridan leaving the unit in a car at 12.38am. He was tracked down and arrested by police in a KFC carpark roughly an hour later.

Mr Sheridan was taken to the Calvary Mater Hospital for treatment and was later charged with murder.

The jury is expected to retire to begin deliberating a verdict on Tuesday.