A man has had his murder conviction and 16-year prison sentence overturned, after an appeals court found the fatal bashing of bikie Clint Starkey may have only been intended as a “hiding”.
Starkey was “swiftly and violently assaulted” by four men on April 5, 2017 at a Caltex Service Station at Peats Ridge, in the Central Coast region of NSW.
The 42-year-old died in Gosford Hospital two months later after failing to recover from serious head injuries.
At the time of his 2018 arrest, Crane was described by police as a “life-long” member of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang.
Crown prosecutors alleged Colin Crane and his brother James Crane arranged for the assailants to attack Starkey, with the intention of at least causing him serious harm.
The jury was told during the trial the men did so due to threats allegedly being made by Starkey against them and their family.
Colin Crane and James Crane were both convicted in July 2022 of murder as accessories before the fact.
Adam Symons, Beau McDonald and Guy Robertson were also convicted of murder over the bashing, while another man, Jake McDonough, was convicted of manslaughter and a final co-accused, Simon Rodden, was found not guilty.
Also today, the appeals court ordered Robertson undergo a retrial over his alleged role in the fatal bashing.
He is due to face court for that matter on August 2.
In today’s judgment acquitting Colin Crane, Justice Ian Harrison said the evidence against him did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt he had indicated he wanted Starkey assaulted to a degree that would cause him really serious injury.
Justice Harrison said it would have been available for the jury to find the men who bashed Starkey went there either at Crane’s direction or not, “with the intention of merely giving him what might colloquially be described as a hiding”.
“The assailants were unarmed despite their presumed knowledge that Mr Starkey had a history of owning firearms,” Justice Harrison said.
“The fact that whatever took place at the service station was likely to be recorded on CCTV, which the assailants would have been aware of, also suggests that they were unconcerned about apprehension, something that seems highly unlikely if the plan was to cause really serious injury.”
Justice Harrison said the crown case drew strength from Crane’s “demonstrated animosity towards Starkey as inviting only one available conclusion when several possibilities are available”.
The trial heard evidence of an altercation between Crane and Starkey on April 3, 2017.
Witnesses told the trial they heard Crane yell, “I’m going to get you, you f—ing dog c—“.
Starkey’s aunt also gave evidence she spoke to Crane the following day and reported he said to her that “he was going to f—ing kill him”.