Home brewer jailed for six years following death of three men
A Queensland father who was found guilty of manslaughter and grievous bodily harm on Tuesday afternoon has been sentenced to six years prison however he will be eligible for parole after 18 months.
William Neil Clarence Lynam was found guilty after his home-made batch of liquor killed three young men, including his son.
He had pleaded not guilty but the jury found he accidentally poisoned the three men.
In June 2013, Lynam brewed two litres of “moonshine” at his Ballandean property using methanol as the main ingredient.
Lynam's 21-year-old son, Joel, along with Joel's friends Vincent Summers, 21, and Bryan Wilmot, 30, drank the toxic brew and all three of them died over the following days.
Lynam's other son, Joshua Lynam, 29, survived after drinking the brew and now lives with partial blindness and organ damage.
During a seven-day trial in Toowoomba's Supreme Court, the Ballandean man was convicted of one count of grievous bodily harm and three counts of manslaughter.
The 71-year-old had pleaded not guilty to each of the four charges and will be sentenced on Wednesday.
Lynam insisted in court that the grappa was ethanol-based and contained only 37 percent alcohol.
At about 3:30am on the night of ingestion, the four men woke up groaning and Lynam watched over them throughout the night.
Lynam's son, Joel, died at the property and the other three were rushed to hospital.
Photos were taken as evidence showing each of the unlabelled containers and bottles of liquids at Lynam's house.
How toxic were the drinks?
Menthol becomes toxic when it is mixed with chemicals in the stomach as the body tries to process it and symptons don't usually appear until six to 30 hours after ingestion, a menthol toxicology reports states.
About 230mg/L of menthol is fatal and the court heard that Mr Wilmot had 1800mg/L of methanol in his blood.
News break – June 15
