R v Steele (2024) - Murder Charge Withdrawn in Family Dispute Case

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Murder charge successfully withdrawn by prosecution following negotiations leading up to the trial. Case was listed in the NSW Supreme Court.

Our 76 year old client was charged with the murder of his adult son.

Our client together with his son and daughter spent the late evening having dinner together at a Chinese restaurant where they all consumed alcohol. Being the death anniversary of his late ex-wife.

After dinner they all decided to attend our client’s home where they consumed more alcohol while looking at old family photos. At some point in the conversation that night an argument erupted between our client and his son over a sensitive issue concerning his late ex-wife.

At this point in time while the argument quickly escalated, our client shouted at his son on numerous occasions to go to bed. When his son refused this, our client rushed to the kitchen where he grabbed a large kitchen knife before returning to the lounge room where the argument continued.

Our client during this time had said to his son “If you come near me. I’ll kill you”.

In a state of anger and rage his son rushed towards our client as our client continued to swing his hands with the knife in hand.

Our client’s son had been stabbed into the side of his neck before falling to the ground.

As our client realised what has happened, he placed his hands over his son’s neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately his son had passed away. The only witness was his daughter.

Our client was arrested and taken to the police station before being formally charged with murder and refused bail.

Our client’s sister approached CDLA to urgently advise and represent her dad.

Following this, our Principal Jimmy Singh met our client on numerous occasions at the Goulbourn correctional centre. After careful review of the police evidence, our Principal Jimmy Singh together with senior counsel Mark Dennis found numerous weaknesses in the prosecution case.

Our client had a good argument for excessive self-defence which formed the basis for negotiating with the prosecution to seek the withdrawal of the murder charge in lieu of a plea of guilty to the less serious offence of manslaughter by excessive self-defence.

After months of negotiations, the prosecution eventually agreed to this, and our client’s murder charge was dropped.

In the result, our client who was in remission from leukemia, no prior criminal record, and who was entirely remorseful for his actions, was ultimately sentenced by the Sydney Supreme Court to imprisonment of 3 years and 6 months non parole period for manslaughter (by excessive self-defence).

Published on 04/09/2025