Man killed his father to 'save' his mother

A Queensland man who went to his parents' home in a bid to protect his mum from her violent husband has been jailed over the man's death.

David Llewellyn Rein feared his father was going to harm his mum, so he stabbed his dad to death. Now he will spend eight years in jail.

HE WENT into his parents' home with a PVC pipe with the intention of protecting his mum.

David Llewellyn Rein, 36, walked out of the house a killer.

Rein pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court at Bundaberg on Monday to manslaughter and unlawful wounding after he stabbed his father to death during an altercation at their Yandaran home in 2017.

The court heard Rein, his parents and a family friend were drinking on the afternoon of September 5 before bickering between Rein and his father broke out.

Crown prosecutor Carl Heaton said Rein's father later grabbed a shovel from the side of the house and when he came back he hoisted it over his shoulder and swung it knocking the foot rest being used by his wife from under her feet.

The court heard Rein's father had a history of becoming violent after consuming alcohol.

Rein then told his mother to go with him to his place so she was away from his father.

Later inside the home, Rein had gone inside to wait for his mother and took with him a PVC pipe.

When his mother saw the item she said "you won't need that" and Rein replied saying "I hope not".

After a few minutes, Rein's father entered the kitchen area and saw the pipe and asked him what it was for.

Rein said it was to protect his mother, and things escalated.

Mr Heaton said Rein and his father engaged in a violent struggle.

He said the friend staying at the home heard the commotion and tried to break the pair apart, injuring himself in the process.

Mr Heaton said Rein's father sustained two stab wounds to the chest area with one of them penetrating the heart.

When Rein hit his father on the back with the PVC pipe, his mother took the opportunity to restrain him by sitting on him and then noticed the blood on his chest.

Rein soon left the scene.

The court heard Rein's father had gotten up and walked to the bathroom where his wife noticed more blood dripping from him before he collapsed.

Authorities were then called and Rein was found a short distance away from the property.

Rein's barrister Callan Cassidy said his client didn't know the full extent of his father's injuries until after he had left the scene and spoke with police.

Mr Cassidy said Rein was co-operative with police and admitted he was responsible for his father's fatal injuries.

He said Rein wasn't exactly sure how his father had sustained the stab injuries during the altercation.

He said Rein had also suffered from serious depression for a number of years.

Rein appeared in the courtroom in the dock after spending 789 days in pre-sentence custody.

Justice Thomas Bradley sentenced Rein to eight years imprisonment for manslaughter with a parole eligibility date after serving three.

"He will have to live with the burden of killing his father," he said.

"The conduct (having the pipe and knife) may have been pre-emptive to ward off harm to his mother, but it led to violence with his father.

"It's accepted the defendant struck the deceased in the chest with a knife without an intention to cause any specific injury … or that he did not intend to kill or cause grievous bodily harm to his father."

*For 24-hour domestic violence support call the national hotline 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or MensLine on 1800 600 636.

Originally published as Man killed his father to 'save' his mother