Mentally ill man jailed over fatal attack
A man who fatally attacked a stranger in Sydney's CBD after getting drunk and hearing voices will spend at least six years behind bars.
Michael Terry Gerard McKnight had been drinking at the greyhound races on the night of March 24, 2012, and had smoked cannabis before heading into the city.
CCTV cameras recorded him sitting beside a homeless man, Stafford David Ray, in the early hours of the following morning before jumping to his feet and kicking Mr Ray so hard that his head bounced against the brick wall behind him.
McKnight, who suffers schizophrenia, faced a murder trial but was found guilty of manslaughter.
He told a sentencing hearing earlier this month he was full of remorse for the killing.
"Everything I've been through, everything everyone else has been through, for one silly night, one silly mistake," McKnight said.
"I just can't regret it enough. I'm sorry, I'm sorry ... if I (had taken my prescribed medication) this would probably never have happened."
NSW Supreme Court Justice Stephen Campbell on Thursday said McKnight had been battling mental illness since he was a teenager.
McKnight told two doctors that Mr Ray had stolen $200 from his pocket, and that he'd heard a voice saying "Get him, get him" just before the attack.
"In his own mind, the offender had a reason to harm Mr Ray," Justice Campbell said.
"His attack on Mr Ray was in retaliation for that perceived wrong."
Justice Campbell said Mr Ray did not die until several hours after the assault - he was in hospital waiting for a CT scan when he wandered away to a nearby park.
Mr Ray was found dead under a tree the following afternoon, his hospital ID bracelet still in place.
The victim had been a teenage musical prodigy who became addicted to heroin and went on to serve time for the manslaughter of his mother, Justice Campbell said, though that conviction was overturned.
Justice Campbell sentenced McKnight to a total of eight years behind bars.
He will be eligible for parole in April 2018.
