A man who stabbed his neighbour to death in the toilet at their unit complex has attempted to appeal his murder conviction, but the judge was not having any of it.
Jake Scott Ashman, 25, was sentenced to life in prison when he was found guilty of stabbing Darren Ints 34 times in the Granville unit complex where they lived, with four of the punctures penetrating the victim’s heart.
Justice Peter Davis handed down his decision on May 27, 2022, in the Brisbane Supreme Court after a four-day trial in the Supreme Court in Rockhampton from May 9-12, 2022.
During the trial, the court heard two different versions from Ashman about the events of February 17, 2009: the first when he spoke to police on the day of the murder and the second when he took the stand to give evidence in the trial.
In the 62-page decision published on May 30, 2022, Justice Davis described the first version, where Ashman claimed he went into Mr Ints’ unit to see if he was OK after hearing noises, as “incredible”.
“Not only did Ashman lie and say that he did not kill Mr Ints, he sought to then explain some of his actions by inventing a story about a note having been left in unit three,” Justice Davis wrote in the decision.
Ashman had claimed he found a note instructing the finder to clean up the blood, consume marijuana, not call for any help until the next day and burn the note.
In his second version of events, Ashman admitted to the stabbing but said it was in self-defence after Mr Ints stormed into the bathroom armed with a knife and lunged at him as he was getting up from sitting on the toilet.
He claimed he didn’t tell police what really happened because he was “embarrassed”.
In the wake of his conviction, Ashman appealed his conviction and sentence in the Supreme Court of Queensland.
Police at the scene of the murder at a unit at 146 Cambridge St, Granville.
According to the documents, Ashman appealed against the conviction of murder on the ground that the verdict was unreasonable and could not be supported having regard to the evidence.
He also argued that a sentence of 12 months for an assault charge was “manifestly excessive” and applied for leave to appeal.
The assault charge related to an attack on a female shop assistant in the days before the murder.
The appeal was heard by three justices: Helen Bowskill, Philip Morrison and James Henry.
The decision was handed down on June 20, 2023, after a hearing was held last month.
“By the time of the trial, it was admitted that the appellant had killed the deceased on 17 February 2019,” the court documents read.
“The issues in the trial were whether he had done so unlawfully and whether, at the time he killed the deceased, the appellant intended to kill him or do him grievous bodily harm.
“The basis on which it was contended the killing could not be proved to be unlawful was that the appellant had acted in self-defence.”
Ashman had submitted that the verdict was unreasonable because his evidence could not be rejected beyond reasonable doubt and, consequently, the Crown could not exclude self-defence beyond reasonable doubt.
“Alternatively, the appellant submits the verdict was unreasonable as the number and nature of the injuries to the deceased were not such that an intent to kill or do grievous bodily harm was the only reasonable inference open on the evidence,” the documents read.
Police take a man into custody following the murder at a unit at 146 Cambridge St, Granville.
In her findings, Justice Bowskill described Ashman as a “fundamentally unreliable and incredible witness, whose evidence was completely unbelievable”.
“It is unnecessary to address every element of the appellant’s evidence at the trial, to explain why it should be rejected,” she said.
“It suffices to say that I have no hesitation in concluding, having considered the whole of his evidence, in the context of all of the evidence led at the trial, that it was open to the trial judge to reject the appellant’s evidence, beyond reasonable doubt.
“Having done so, there was no basis to any claim that the killing was done in self-defence.
“It was open to the trial judge to conclude that defence had been excluded by the Crown, beyond reasonable doubt.”
Ashman had submitted that “the number and nature of the injuries do not ultimately bespeak only of an intent to do death or grievous bodily harm”, but that submission was rejected by Justice Bowskill.
“It follows, from my review of the whole of the evidence at the trial, that it was open to the trial judge to find the appellant guilty of murder, beyond reasonable doubt.”
In regard to the assault on the shop assistant, which happened three days before the murder, Justice Bowskill said there was no basis to suggest the concurrent penalty that was imposed for the assault occasioning bodily harm offence was excessive.
Justice Morrison and Justice Henry both agreed with the reasons provided by Justice Bowskill.
The appeal of the murder charge was dismissed and the application for leave to appeal the sentence for the assault charge was refused.