A plumber who believed his best mate was a demon when he fatally bashed him recounted a previous incident of thinking his workmates were demons, a jury has been told.
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Mathew Flame had been asked whether he had any adverse reactions to taking MDMA any time before he bashed Liam Anderson, son of Angry Anderson, singer with hard rock band Rose Tattoo.
The 22-year-old has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Anderson by repeatedly stomping on him shortly after sunrise on November 4,2018 in a Queenscliff park on Sydney's northern beaches.
The Crown contends Flame was psychotic at the time due to his voluntary use of drugs including ecstasy, while the defence says he was labouring under the severe mental illness of schizophrenia.
Crown witness, forensic psychiatrist Professor David Greenberg, told the NSW Supreme Court jury on Wednesday his source material included an interview with Flame in January 2020.
Flame told him he had no previous psychiatric history, but said about four months before Mr Anderson's death he drove to work while still intoxicated from the previous evening.
Flame stated he had five drinks of alcohol and eight capsules of MDMA, felt "buzzing, alive and a rush", and was "really enjoying himself".
"For only a few minutes" when he got to the construction site he thought his workmates were demons and "felt scared and anxious so walked away and drove home".
Prof Greenberg said Flame told him this was his only previous adverse reaction to MDMA.
The psychiatrist referred to Flame's recorded interviews with police after his arrest, where he displayed no objective signs of psychotic symptoms and appeared alert, coherent and calm.
Flame told police he overdosed on ecstasy and became convinced his mate was an evil demon who would kill him.
Prof Greenberg noted Flame was asked if this type of experience had happened to him before.
"No, never before, no never, ever," Flame answered, before reiterating the incident with his mate was the first time.
NSW Police forensic pharmacologist and toxicologist Dr Shuang Fu earlier referred to a blood sample taken from Flame 12-and-a-half hours after the bashing.
She calculated that at the time of the incident, the levels of MDMA was 1.0 to 1.5 milligrams per litre.
The jury was told that an analysis of Mr Anderson's blood sample revealed 12mg per litre.
"It follows that the amount of MDMA in the deceased's blood was somewhere in the range of 10 to 12 times as much as that calculated to have been in the accused's blood," asked defence barrister John Stratton SC.
Dr Fu agreed, but also agreed with prosecutor Gareth Christofi that there were difficulties in making comparisons between the two samples taken from a living and a dead person.
Mr Anderson's sample may not be accurate as it was taken over two days after he died when the concentration level may increase due to the "post-mortem redistribution effect".
Prof Greenberg will continue his evidence on Thursday..
Australian Associated Press
