Trial begins for young man accused of killing Nan’s partner in broad daylight in central Sorell

A young man has admitted there was “violence that took place” at Sorell last March. But he denies he intended to murder his nan’s partner with a baseball bat to the head.

St George's Church, with picturesque rotunda is a landmark in the area

A TRIAL has begun for a young man who denies murdering his nan’s partner with a baseball bat in broad daylight.

Braydon Eugene Kelleher, 21, doesn’t deny that “violence took place” in the middle of Sorell, at St George’s Square, on the afternoon of March 10 last year.

But he does deny he struck Adrian Walter Garcia, 51, with the intention of killing him.

On Thursday, a Supreme Court of Tasmania jury heard Mr Garcia died in the Royal Hobart Hospital a few weeks after the alleged attack from serious brain trauma and a skull fracture.

Crown prosecutor Linda Mason said Mr Kelleher’s mother had recently passed away when the alleged crime unfolded.

She said Mr Kelleher’s grandmother Carolyn Nevin had been in a relationship with Mr Garcia, which was generally happy – other than when he drank alcohol and would become “belligerent”.

Rotunda in front of St (Saint) George's Church

On the day in question, Mr Kelleher’s grandmother met up with Mr Garcia near St George’s Square, opposite the Pembroke Hotel, finding him affected by alcohol.

A verbal exchange ensued, Ms Mason said, with Mr Garcia saying “derogatory things about her family”.

Mr Kelleher’s mother went home and told her grandson and another man about what Mr Garcia had said, Ms Mason told the court.

“This incensed both (the man) and Mr Kelleher, the accused. They armed themselves with weapons. Mr Kelleher had a baseball bat and (the man) had a broom handle,” she said.

“The state’s case is all three – Ms Nevin, Mr Kelleher (and the other man) – walked back to where Mr Garcia was sitting.”

Ms Mason said Mr Kelleher struck Mr Garcia with the baseball bat, and this was witnessed by a number of people in Sorell that day.

She said the attack was “very, very quick”, unfolding within two minutes, with Mr Garcia taken to hospital and undergoing surgery.

Pembroke Hotel

Ms Mason told the jury that the Crown needed to prove Mr Kelleher’s acts were deliberate, and that at the time of the blows, he either knew – or ought to have known – that death would be a likely result.

Defence barrister Todd Kovacic told the jury it was not in dispute there had been an exchange between Mr Garcia, Mr Kelleher, the other man and Mr Kelleher’s nan, Ms Nevin.

But he said what Mr Kelleher intended at the time, and how many times Mr Kelleher struck him, was in question.

“Mr Kelleher was there, no question. There is no question that violence took place that afternoon,” Mr Kovacic said.

“That is the key issue – what he intended at the time. It’s the defence case that Mr Kelleher never intended Mr Garcia to die.”

The trial, before Justice Gregory Geason, is expected to run up to five days.

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