ASHLEY Duane Smith, the 22-year-old man from Wee Waa, accused of killing Inverell man Bradley Hoye in Narrabri last year, will be sentenced in the NSW Supreme Court today.
Smith had initially pleaded not guilty to murdering Hoye but has been found guilty of manslaughter.
The Crown alleged that Smith bashed Hoye about the head with a tree branch and kicked him while he was on the ground.
Smith claimed that Hoye was advancing on him with two knives and that he was acting in self defence.
Crown Prosecutor Jeff McLellan caught the attention of the jury early when the trial began on Wednesday August 26 when he said -
“At about midnight on June 27 last year, Neil Gibbs was standing by his car in Maitland St waiting for his friends when, out of the blue, he was confronted by Bradley Hoye carrying two knives and wearing a balaclava,” he said.
Hoye then allegedly said “You’re the ****, I’m going to cut you up.”
Ten minutes later, Hoye was lying dead in nearby Tibereena St - not at the hands of Gibbs but at the hands of the accused.”
Mr McLellan told the jury that the time frame from Hoye’s first appearance in Maitland St to his death in Tibereena St could not have been more than 10 minutes.
Four weeks was then spent analysing what happened in those 10 minutes before Smith was convicted of manslaughter.
Smith and Hoye did not know each other. They had been drinking earlier at separate hotels.
Some time during the evening, Hoye had been drinking at hotels, had returned to his unit, changed his clothes, grabbed two knives and put on a balaclava before going back outside.
Smith had been drinking at the Caledonian Hotel and became ‘quite aggressive’ when he was refused service and asked to leave.
“In those circumstances, both parties encountered each other in Maitland St,” Mr McLellan said.
The Crown Prosecutor said it seemed clear from all the evidence that Hoye turned up with knives and balaclava and began threatening everyone with the knives and swearing.
“But he was easily repelled by members of the accused’s group ... they threw cans of Bundaberg Rum at him and forced him back across the road,” he said.
“It could have ended there, except that Gibbs decided to go after Hoye, telling him to put down the knives and engage in an old fashioned fist fight.”
Instead, a chase began with Hoye pursuing Gibbs down an arcade and the group pursuing Hoye.
Gibbs hurdled a brick wall but, in attempting likewise, Hoye fell face forward on to the ground, breaking both wrists.
“At that stage, it would seem that the pursuing group had seen off the threat as Gibbs went one way and Hoye went another,” Mr McLellan said.
“It could have ended there as well, but the pursuing group, apparently led by the accused, chased Hoye and evidence suggests he was effectively cornered.”
The Crown Prosecutor said what happened next was subject to evidence from a variety of sources - ‘some people saw more things than others, and some people saw different things than others’.
“But the overwhelming picture is of Hoye cornered by a group screaming at him and Hoye waving the knives, apparently trying to keep the group at bay,” he said.
“Gibbs, who had rejoined his friends, broke off a tree branch and as he raised the branch Hoye said he wanted to make a truce.
“It was clear to Gibbs that Hoye didn’t want to fight any more.”
Mr McLellan said Hoye took off his balaclava, ‘unmasking himself to the group’, and made his way around, or was allowed to go past the group, in the direction of his unit.
“As he is walking away, a friend of the accused, Justin French, took the tree branch off Gibbs and gave it to the accused,” he said.
“Most people saw the accused strike Hoye from behind as he was walking away, and as a result of being attacked around the head, Hoye fell to the ground.
Sentencing for Ashley Smith will be held in the NSW Supreme Court in Darlinghurst, Sydney.
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