A recovering drug addict who fatally stabbed his mate during an altercation on a remote NSW Mid North Coast property after refusing to help him score meth has been jailed.
Shane Nancarrow could be released from prison as early as next year after he was sentenced in Sydney’s Supreme Court.
A Port Macquarie jury earlier this year found Nancarrow not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter over the death of Paul Donald in northern NSW in August 2019.
Mr Donald was stabbed through the heart as a heated argument escalated into violence after the men had spent the day drinking.
Judge Peter Hamill rejected Nancarrow’s version of events that Mr Donald had run into the knife that he was holding during an altercation on a staircase.
However he did find that Nancarrow did not intend to kill Mr Donald.
The court heard that Nancarrow and Mr Donald lived on the isolated property on Pipers Creek Road at Dondingalong with two other men.
Nancarrow lived on the second floor of the main house while Mr Donald resided in a caravan on the property.
The court heard that on August 2, 2019, the men started drinking in the middle of the day, with Nancarrow travelling to Kempsey to purchase beer from a bottle shop.
The two men were described as “getting along like a house on fire” with no animosity. However things turned sour when Mr Donald asked Nancarrow to help him score methylamphetamine.
“I am satisfied that Mr Nancarrow’s refusal to go into town to buy drugs created the friction that ended tragically many hours later,” Judge Hamill said.
When Mr Donald raised the question of scoring drugs a second time, Nancarrow again refused.
“No, we’ve already talked about this Paul. No, I don’t, I’m not going to do it,” Nancarrow said, the court heard.
According to Nancarrow, Mr Donald then said “F***, Shane” and punched him in the head, before quickly apologising.
Nancarrow was a recovering drug addict and on methadone and told the court he was resolved to not buying drugs.
“I am satisfied that the deceased remained keen to obtain ice and was cranky with Mr Nancarrow,” Judge Hamill said.
By the late evening, tensions had become heated and the two men returned to their living quarters, only for Mr Donald to return to the main house where the fatal altercation occurred.
Witnesses described Mr Donald’s behaviour as aggressive and like a “zombie”.
There was a confrontation on the staircase, with another resident at the property, Karl McClory, attempting to stand in between the two men while Nancarrow sat at the top xjmtzywof the stairs armed with a knife.
During the altercation on the stairs, Mr McClory described seeing Nancarrow lunge forward at Mr Donald.
A post-mortem found Mr Donald had been stabbed in the upper arm and chest, with the fatal wound piercing the right ventricle of his heart.
Nancarrow attempted to argue that he was simply holding the knife and that Mr Donald had caused his own injuries when he charged into him – however that version of events was rejected by Judge Hamill.
“I do not accept Mr Nancarrow’s version that he merely held the knife out in front of him and that both the fatal wound and the shoulder wound were caused by Mr Donald running into the knife as he charged up the stairs or as he tried to get past Mr McClory,” Judge Hamill said.
Nancarrow drove away from the scene, threw the knife into bushland before rolling his car as he made his way back to the property.
Taking into consideration his offer to plead guilty to manslaughter and his remorse, Nancarrow was on Thursday sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison with a four-year non-parole period.
With time served, he will be eligible for release in August 2023.
