Advertisement

Murdered teen ‘the wrong hit’; offender just out to ‘bash someone’

A man who stabbed a teenage boy to death at a Sydney car repair shop says he had just gone there to “bash someone” but ended up murdering the “wrong person”.

Darren James McArthur said he was muscle for hire when he went to find and rough up the owner of the Minchinbury business in Sydney’s west on December 5, 2011.

McArthur told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that he had been recruited by his co-accused Darren Stewart Robertson to “give him a hand” and “bash someone or somethin’.”

But the self-confessed drug addict claimed things got out of hand when a scuffle broke out between him and the 15-year-old apprentice working there.

The court heard the teen, who cannot be named, suffered numerous cuts to the legs and a lethal stab wound to the chest, which left him gasping for air.

When McArthur was asked by crown prosecutor Chris Maxwell QC how many times he had stabbed the teen, he replied “I don’t know … I just freaked”.

He told the court he had gone there looking for the owner and was just going to “bash someone or somethin'”.

But he said he unknowingly got the “wrong person”.

Since being in jail over the killing, McArthur said he had received death threats, telling the court that his victim’s father had links to the Lone Wolf motorcycle club. “I just thought I would get drugs out of it,” he said.

McArthur has pleaded guilty to the teen’s murder while his getaway driver Robertson has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

At their sentence hearing, Robertson’s former girlfriend Chelsea James told the court that he had come home on the evening of the killing and watched television with her.

When a story about a 15-year-old boy being killed came on, Ms James said Robertson “went pale and sweaty like he was in shock”.

The day before the killing of the teen, Ms James said Robertson had told her he had been offered a “job” for $2500.

“All I have to do is go to Minchinbury to rough up and scare some bloke who owes some money” Robertson allegedly informed her.

During the proceedings, McArthur’s barrister said his client had been subject to intimidation as people came in and out of court.

Justice Ian Harrison said he appreciated that emotions were running high but that it was a court of law and he didn’t need the assistance of anyone in the gallery to dispense justice.

Through a victim impact statement read to court by a supporter, the mother of the boy said she is haunted by how he must have felt at the time of his death.

“I am heartbroken at how frightened and bewildered he must have felt at the time of the unprovoked attack.”

“The loneliness, emptiness and sickness I feel each and every day is enormous.”

The hearing continues.

Advertisement
Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter.
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.