A Hobart man has been sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter, after stabbing his neighbour to death during a break in.
Caleb Adams, 34, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, after killing 34 year-old Ashton Jones, while Mr Jones attempted to enter his unit in Mornington, on Hobart’s eastern shore.
The court heard Mr Jones had mentioned to others he would like to steal a television and other property from Mr Adams, who he mistakenly believed was not at home at the time of the attempted break in.
The attack occurred in the context of increasing hostility between Adams and his neighbours – but not with Mr Jones, who was also living in the unit complex on Carbeen Street.
Three days before the stabbing, Adams had assaulted one of his neighbours.
Adams pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault over the incident, where he hit the neighbour with his own walking stick following a noise dispute.
Following the assault, he stayed with a friend for a couple of nights, but when he returned home, he found the front window of his unit was smashed.
It was then that he had an argument with another person, an associate of one of his neighbours, who threatened to burn his unit.
Acting Justice David Porter noted Adams went to bed that night feeling “extremely uncomfortable”, asking his mother if he could stay with her, telling her about the broken window and that someone had urinated on his porch.
The court also heard that he’d heard people taunting him that evening outside his house, one saying “it won’t be long now”.
He awoke that night to noise coming from the kitchen, and walking into the kitchen, found Mr Jones, leaning into the unit through the broken window.
He heard Mr Jones say “hello c**t”.
Adams stabbed Mr Jones in the neck with a large kitchen knife, puncturing his lung.
After the homicide, he called a friend, and then triple 0, telling the operator he had acted in “self defence”, asking “what else was I supposed to do?”
“These guys have really been f**king with me,” he told police when they arrived.
“He’s come right through and he had a weapon so I was scared sh*tless.”
He told police he had believed the intruder to be the man who had threatened to burn his house out only hours earlier.
“The defendant didn’t realise it was Mr Jones he had stabbed,” Acting Justice David Porter said.
(ABC News: Luke Bowden)
Court hears ‘excessive use of force’ used
Mr Adams was sentenced to three months in prison for the assault on his neighbour in the days prior to the homicide, dated from the 12th of October 2020, when he was first taken into custody.
He’s been sentenced to six years imprisonment for manslaughter, with a non parole period of three years.
In sentencing, Acting Justice Porter said that Adams had been “justifiably scared” prior to the stabbing.
But said there had been a “greatly excessive use of force” and that it had been a “disproportionate response” to the situation at hand.
“I accept that the defendant is genuinely remorseful,” Acting Justice Porter said.
“The defendant immediately took responsibility for his actions.”
Adams will carry ‘weight of death’ for life
During a hearing earlier in June, Adams’ defence lawyer, Rochelle Mainwaring, told the court that he had had been “experiencing extreme fear” in light of disputes with his neighbours and “responded excessively to a frightening situation” on the night of the stabbing.
She said that he had “limited time to think” about the situation.
Ms Mainwaring said Adams was a “solitary character” who led an isolated lifestyle apart from contact with fellow church members.
She said Mr Jones’ death would be “a weight he will carry with him with for the remainder of his life”.
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