Man walks free after dad’s fatal stabbing
A man has walked free more than three years after he was charged with the murder of Raymond Harris on the Gold Coast, while two other men will face jail for the stabbing death.
The three co-accused had faced a lengthy trial in Brisbane Supreme Court over the fatal stabbing of Mr Harris, a 27-year-old father, at Surfers Paradise’s popular Cavill Mall on September 23, 2020.
The Crown had alleged Jye Sebastian Webb-Italia, now 22, caused the fatal injury.
A jury found him guilty of murder on Monday.
Webb-Italia had entered a guilty plea to manslaughter on the first day of the trial, but the prosecution would not accept his plea to the lesser charge.
Harris had died within minutes after he was stabbed just once in the abdomen by Webb-Italia, slicing his liver and stomach.
The 22-year-old became visibly emotional at hearing the guilty verdict.
His 28-year-old brother, Kyle Jack Webb, wrapped his arm around his younger sibling as he sat next to him on the dock.
Webb then had to turn his attention to hear the jury as they handed down his own verdict. He was found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter.
The Crown had alleged Webb and a third co-accused, 25-year-old Jarod James Miller, had aided or encouraged Webb-Italia to fatally stab Mr Harris.
The jury found Mr Miller not guilty of murder or manslaughter.
During closing submissions, Mr Miller’s defence barrister Andrew Hoare said his client had only used the weapon defensively.
The trio had confronted Mr Harris outside the Surfers Paradise Beer Garden before he was stabbed, the court previously heard.
The jury had been told Mr Miller was also armed with a knife during the fight.
The tattooed-faced man walked from Brisbane Supreme Court a free man shortly before 5pm on Monday, after spending nearly four years in pre-sentence custody.
Webb-Italia and Webb will be sentenced on Tuesday.
