A retiree was wrongly branded a paedophile by a country town “rumour mill” before he was fatally bashed by a man searching for a missing teenager, a court has been told.
Anthony Davies, 35, was in April found guilty of the manslaughter of Kenneth Campbell in Parkes, central-western NSW, in the early hours of May 6, 2020.
Davies likely punched Campbell at least once in the head after breaking into his home to look for the missing girl, his NSW Supreme Court sentencing hearing was told on Friday.
Though Campbell was never charged with any sexual offences, he was nicknamed “Chester the molester” around town due to his strange behaviour, which may have been the result of a brain injury.
The 74-year-old had previously been in two accidents which changed his personality and left him with one eye and facial scars.
Davies drunkenly broke into Campbell’s house that night and attacked him in his bedroom, crown prosecutor Michelle Swift told the hearing.
“The offender … entered the house because he believed that the person who lived in that house was a pedophile,” Swift told the court in Orange.
“He went into the house for the purpose of looking for (the girl).”
Swift said Davies’ incorrect belief about Campbell aggravated the offending because he considered the older man to be part of a hated group.
There was also evidence of “significant force”, as witnesses had heard loud banging coming from Campbell’s house for about 10 minutes, she said.
But defence barrister Scott Corish said Davies’ misapprehension about Campbell did not make the crime more serious.
“He … broke into Mr Campbell’s house, but it wasn’t simply because of that incorrect perception that he was a pedophile, the search was for (the girl),” Corish said.
“Your Honour would not be satisfied it was an aggravating factor.”
Expert evidence heard at the trial found Campbell’s cause of death was blunt-force trauma, which caused bleeding on his brain.
Davies was unaware of Campbell’s existing injuries â which left him vulnerable to “re-bleeds” â when he punched him once, Corish said.
“It would be a far more serious scenario if the evidence clearly suggested repeated punches to the head area.
“In this case, it’s my submission that it was one punch to the head.”
Corish said the defence team tried to afford Campbell some dignity throughout the trial.
“All trials are run in an adverserial manner and the label ‘pedophile’ was used as part of the rumour mill in Parkes,” he said.
“But at no stage during the trial did we suggest that was even remotely accurate.”
Davies, dressed in black with long hair, sat emotionless in the dock throughout the hearing.
Justice Michael Walton will sentence Davies in the coming weeks.
