Teenager found guilty of manslaughter over stabbing man

A jury has found a teenager guilty of manslaughter after he claimed he acted in self-defense when he fatally stabbed a man in the chest with a knife with a 26cm blade.

The Brisbane Supreme Court jury returned its verdict on Thursday after deliberating for nine hours following a four-day trial on murder and alternatively manslaughter charges.

The 18-year-old man, who cannot be named as he was 17 at the time, followed 43-year-old David George Connolly as he entered the car park of a shopping center in Wilston, in the inner north, shortly after midnight on January 22, 2023 Left Brisbane.

After a brief confrontation, recorded in audio form by a surveillance camera, the youth stabbed Mr Connolly once, causing a 15cm deep wound to the side of his chest below the armpit, which led to severe lung damage and death within minutes led.

The teenager was arrested by police for possessing a knife in public shortly after he stabbed Mr Connolly but 30 minutes before the victim’s body was discovered lying on a footpath by passers-by at 1.45am.

The teenager took the stand during his trial and said he had acted in self-defence when Mr Connolly began punching him repeatedly.

In his closing speech, Crown prosecutor Michael Gawrych told the jury that the youth’s claim that he was attacked was refuted by the absence of injuries to Mr Connolly’s hands and no injuries to the defendant’s body.

“It is a complete fabrication, clearly designed by (the youth) to retrospectively justify the killing of an unarmed man,” Mr Gawrych concluded.

The jury was previously instructed by Judge Michael Copley to reach a unanimous decision to find guilty on the murder charge.

The teenager held his face in his hands after the verdict was announced: Not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter.

Judge Copley remanded the youth in custody and adjourned the matter to a date to be fixed so that a report could be prepared before sentencing.