8-26-2008 Australia:Duane Matthew Simpson today told the Supreme Court he "lost control" and killed Robert Albert Gardiner only after "extreme and grave provocation".
The court was told Simpson attacked Gardiner after walking in on the attempted assault of Tiahn Louise Lovell - who is charged with assisting her fiance's crime of manslaughter.
Gilbert Aitken, for Simpson, said Gardiner's actions mitigated his client's conduct.
"Simpson's first reaction was to go to the aid and protection of his fiancee, and all sorts of things were going through his head," he said.
"He saw a man trying to grope his fiancee, trying to touch her breasts, and he knew Gardiner was a sex offender who had been jailed for offences of violence.
"It was extreme and grave provocation, and he lost control."
Simpson, 27, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Lovell, 31, and their friend Brenton James Grosser, 44, have admitted assisting an offender.
Simpson killed Gardiner, whose badly beaten body was found at a property at Wandearah East, near Port Pirie, on Australia Day last year.
His ankles were bound by red tape, his shorts pulled down around his ankles and his T-shirt was stuck around his neck.
A broken piece of a whisky bottle was found wedged inside Gardiner's mouth and one of his legs was broken after his death.
In sentencing submissions today, Mr Aitken said Gardiner liked to get drunk and incite fights by claiming he was a pedophile.
He said Lovell had shared with Simpson her long history of sexual abuse and domestic violence.
It was these factors, he said, that prompted Simpson's actions.
"My client is now absolutely shocked by the gravity of his actions, and is genuinely remorseful," he said.
Justice Trish Kelly will sentence all three offenders next month. ..News Source.. by SEAN FEWSTER, COURT REPORTER
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Three people accused of murdering a man at Wandearah East, near Port Pirie, have changed their pleas in the Supreme Court at Port Augusta.
7-23-2008 Australia:
Duane Matthew Simpson, 27, Brenton James Grosser, 44, and Tiahn Louise Lovell, 31, each pleaded not guilty to bashing Robert Albert Gardiner to death, in January 2007.
Their trial began this month but was stopped when Simpson pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Lovell and Grosser have admitted to assisting an offender.
There will be a sentencing submissions hearing in Adelaide next month. ..News Source.. by ABC North and West
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Man jailed for killing sex offender
9-23-2008 Australia:
A SOUTH Australian man kicked and bashed a convicted sex offender to death after the man tried to grope his girlfriend, a court has been told.
Duane Matthew Simpson, 27, was today jailed for at least six years after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Robert Gardiner on Australia Day last year.
SA Supreme Court justice Trish Kelly said a post-mortem examination showed Mr Gardiner suffered 10 to 15 blows to the head, consistent with being hit, kicked and stomped on.
His body also showed signs of being run over and he was found to have a broken cheekbone and part of a broken bottle wedged in his throat.
"Basically you kicked and beat Mr Gardiner to death in a sustained and violent attack," the judge told Simpson.
She said Simpson had admitted losing control after he saw the victim making sexual advances to his girlfriend, Tiahn Louise Lovell, at a house they all shared near Port Pirie, north of Adelaide.
The judge said Simpson had problems with anger management and abused both drugs and alcohol.
He also was aware that Mr Gardiner was a convicted sex offender.
After the bashing Simpson, and another occupant of the house, Brenton James Grosser, bound the dead man's ankles with tape and moved his body out of the house.
Simpson, Grosser and Lovell then fled the scene but were tracked down by police.
Justice Kelly said she accepted that Simpson had been provoked by Mr Gardiner's action but described his response as out of proportion.
She imposed a sentence of nine years and four months with a non-parole-period of six years.
Grosser, 45, was jailed for a minimum of six months after pleading guilty to assisting an offender while Lovell, 31, was given a six-month suspended sentence also for assisting an offender.
..News Source.. by The Australian
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