A man will spend three more years in prison for killing his girlfriend’s former partner during a dramatic lover’s spat that ended in a man being crushed to death between a car and garage in the backyard of his own home.
Joshua Walker Smith learnt his fate in the Newcastle Supreme Court on Wednesday for killing Ewan Sams, 36, at Cessnock in the NSW Hunter Region on September 25, 2018.
Smith, also 36, was due to stand trial last month for a charge of murder but instead entered a plea of guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Justice Stephen Rothman told the court that Smith used his car to injure and kill Mr Sams as the woman they were fighting over sat in the passenger seat.
The court was told the pair had been friends before the fatal fight, but their friendship was strained due to the “relationship triangle” in which Mr Sams’ ex-girlfriend, Kirby Armstrong, was in the middle.
Justice Rothman told the court that Ms Armstrong asked Smith to drive her to her ex-boyfriend’s home on the night of September 25 as he was refusing to return her belongings, but Mr Sams claimed she owed him money.
“Stop being a dog c**t and just let me get my stuff out,” Ms Armstrong said when she arrived, Justice Rothman told the court.
Mr Sams told her to “f**k off”, the court was told.
Justice Rothman said when they arrived, Mr Sams had started a bonfire in his backyard and was throwing her belongings into it.
Ms Armstrong confronted him and Mr Sams told her he burned her birth certificate before grabbing her and bending her backwards over the railing.
“You know that I love you and I can’t handle having your stuff around anymore,” Mr Sams told her.
She managed to get away and get back into Smith’s Nissan Patrol 4WD, which he had driven into the backyard when he saw the confrontation.
Justice Rothman told the court that Mr Sams ran at her and attempted to lift her out of the car before Smith yelled: “You’re not f***ing taking her mate, stop it.”
The court was told that Mr Sams went into a rage as he picked up a metal pole and said “I’m gonna kill her” and “you can f***ing have her”.
Justice Rothman told the court that Mr Sams smashed the windscreen with a paver as Smith unsuccessfully tried to reverse the car out of the backyard before Mr Sams threw the same paver into the car.
Smith then put the car into first gear and drove six to seven metres towards Mr Sams and crushed him between the bonnet of the car and the garage.
Justice Rothman told the court that Mr Sams screamed “stop” several times after he was hit as Smith put the car in reverse and exited through the side gate.
Both Ms Armstrong and neighbours called triple-0, with police finding Mr Sams on his back near the garage struggling to breathe.
He suffered fatal injuries, including multiple broken ribs and collapsed lungs, and died at the scene.
Smith co-operated with police by undergoing an interview and walked officers through the scene and described what happened. He was charged with murder 21 months later.
Justice Rothman said Smith was not usually a violent or aggressive man, but he had been using methylamphetamine (ice) in the lead-up to the fatal incident, which was a factor in the manslaughter.
He accepted Smith had never intended to “seriously harm or kill” Mr Sams but was merely trying to help Ms Armstrong collect her belongings and now suffered significant mental health issues due to a traumatic childhood
“I also note that the PTSD aspects were exacerbated or caused by the conduct,” Justice Rothman said.
Smith was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of eight years and six months, wxjmtzywith a non-parole period of three years and eight months.
The sentence was backdated to begin on August 17, 2021, which means he will be eligible for parole on April 16, 2025.
