Self-defence floated at Indigenous teen’s murder trial
Aaron Bunch |
A man accused of murdering an Indigenous teenager with a metal pole could have been defending himself against a knife attack, his lawyer has said.
Jack Steven James Brearley, 24, is accused of striking Cassius Turvey in the head with a metal pole after another teen slashed him with a knife in Perth’s eastern suburbs on October 13, 2022.
He claims one of his co-accused, Brodie Lee Palmer, 29, swung the blows that led to the 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy’s death in hospital 10 days later.
Brearley’s barrister Simon Watters took the jury through the possible findings it could make about his client as he finished his closing submissions, including self-defence.
“You may take the view … that Jack Brearley did have a pole and Cassius Turvey did have a knife, and Cassius Turvey did cut Jack Brearley … and Jack Brearley struck Cassius Turvey with the pole,” he said on Wednesday.
“That scenario would enliven consideration of self-defence … the prosecution would need to prove to you beyond reasonable doubt that Jack Brearley was not acting in self-defence when he struck Cassius.”
Mr Watters said that if the prosecution did not do that, Brearley would be not guilty of murdering Cassius.
He reminded the jury of prosecutor Ben Stanwix’s description of Brearley as a “bully going after the weakest link” before alerting it to the size disparity between them.
“Cassius Turvey weighed 111 kilograms and was 181 centimetres tall. Mr Brearley at the time weighed 52kg,” he said.
“Not only, we say, was Cassius Turvey over twice the size … but on Mr Brearley’s evidence, he was armed with a steak knife with a 15cm blade.”
Mr Watters said Cassius had been heard saying sorry about the time of the incident.
“Was he saying sorry for cutting Mr Brearley?” he said.
He also said Brearley was unarmed when Cassius was struck and he didn’t know Palmer had a metal pole “hidden up his sleeve”.
“Palmer suddenly appeared with the pole at the creek line (and) this went well beyond any common purpose that Mr Brearley was a part of,” the barrister said.
Mr Watters told the jury that if it did decide Brearley was armed with a pole and struck Cassius and he wasn’t acting in self-defence, it would need to consider if his client intended to cause a serious injury or kill.
He said he believed the jury would not be able to conclude this and it would need to consider a manslaughter finding.
“Were you to find that Mr Palmer was the one who struck … it would follow, we say, that Mr Brearley didn’t do any act or acts to aid Mr Palmer to strike the blow,” he said.
“So we say Mr Brearley wouldn’t be guilty of murder.”
Brearley’s girlfriend at the time, Aleesha Louise Gilmore, 23, and one of his co-workers Mitchell Colin Forth, 26, are also on trial, charged with murdering Cassius.
Prosecutors say Brearley delivered the fatal blows while he was “hunting for kids” because somebody had smashed his car windows.
Forth and Palmer are accused of aiding him, and along with Gilmore having a common purpose on the day.
The trial continues with Chief Justice Peter Quinlan delivering his instructions to the jury.
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