A New Year's celebration where friends and family gathered in central western NSW turned into tragedy after an excessive act of self-defence led to a 24-year-old being fatally stabbed, a jury has been told.
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In the early hours of January 3, 2021, Bradley Stanley was slashed across his neck and abdomen during a street brawl in Wellington.
"What you're going to hear about is evidence of what started out as a Saturday night, friends and cousins drinking and socialising, and ended in tragedy for two young men," said defence barrister Sharyn Hall SC on Tuesday.
Shelby Stanley, 21, took part in the fight and has been charged with murdering his step-cousin.
Stanley has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter, saying he acted in self-defence.
The NSW Supreme Court jury heard a disagreement between a group of friends and cousins about one of their ex-girlfriends turned into a violent and ultimately deadly brawl.
"He was defending himself from these other young men who came to his home in the early hours of Sunday morning looking for a fight," said Ms Hall.
"His plea of guilty to manslaughter is an acknowledgement that his actions in coming out of the house, in having with him a knife were excessive in the circumstances."
After the group left the party just before sunrise, they headed out to continue drinking. On the walk back, one of Shelby Stanley's mates Taylor Cubby was seen walking with the ex-partner of Isaiah Stanley.
After an argument over the pair being seen alone, the group split up and went home.
However, they met up later for another altercation in which Shelby Stanley armed himself with a broken glass bottle and Isaiah with a screwdriver.
"He held it by the neck of the bottle and pointed it in the direction of the Stanley brothers ... He said he was going to stab those people," said crown prosecutor Brendan Queenan.
This initial fight was broken up by police without injuries, the jury heard.
After Shelby Stanley sent Snapchat messages to Isaiah threatening his ex-partner, a further brawl ensued outside Shelby Stanley's father's home where the fatal stabbing took place, the court was told.
"The accused came running from the house ... He was waving a knife around. He was doing so in a threatening manner and he moved toward Bradley Stanley on the roadway," said Mr Queenan.
After being injured on the left side of his neck and losing a lot of blood from a wound on the right side of his abdomen, Bradley was taken to Wellington Hospital. He was later airlifted to Dubbo Base Hospital where he was pronounced dead at around 4.30pm on January 3.
Father Kevin Stanley said he saw his son being attacked by Isaiah and his brother Ezekial along with Bradley and others before the stabbing.
Isaiah "dogshotted" Shelby Stanley by punching him in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground outside the home. The group then took turns punching and kicking him, the jury heard.
Mr Stanley said the boys then ran across to their cars to get knives.
"I saw them all with weapons, all with knives," he said.
After his son ran back in to arm himself with a kitchen knife, Mr Stanley said he grabbed the weapon and threw it onto the ground, telling him he didn't need it. His son then ran out to the group where Isaiah tried to stab him with a hunting knife, he said.
After seeing Bradley with blood on his neck, the boys bundled him into the car and took him to hospital, the court heard.
"At that time, I didn't think it was that serious, you know what I mean? There was just a nick on the neck. I didn't see anyone get stabbed. I didn't see anything like that," Mr Stanley said.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
Australian Associated Press
