A Bell Post Hill father who killed his grandmother while high on magic mushrooms will spend at least four years and nine months in prison.
Nicholas Field, 38, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on March 5, which Supreme Court judge Leslie Taylor took into account when sentencing him to seven years and six months’ prison on Monday.
The sentence includes a non-parole period of four years and nine months and 269 days already served, meaning Field could be released in April 2025.
The court earlier heard that Field kicked Beryl Field, 84, to the stomach after pushing her over for no discernible reason on July 4, 2020.
Mrs Field suffered internal bleeding and underwent surgery but died 16 days later from injuries sustained in the assault.
Field consumed two magic mushroom drinks and dried magic mushrooms at a birthday celebration on the evening of July 4, Justice Taylor said.
He later told others in the group they were “shifty” and “up to something” and spoke “uncharacteristically” of his childhood trauma, Justice Taylor said.
He did not respond to his partner’s calls and texts after he left the group and walked to his grandparents’ house.
He arrived at 8.45pm, telling his grandfather he was in “a bad way” and asking to speak to him outside.
“Instead, he invited you inside,” Justice Taylor said.
Field was rambling loudly when he smashed a light shade and pushed his grandmother to the ground.
After kicking a heater repeatedly, he returned to the kitchen and kicked Mrs Field to the stomach.
He then smashed a glass cabinet and knocked over a television, which struck his grandfather in the head.
After his grandfather left to get help from a neighbour, Field fled to a nearby house and smashed a car window, intending to release its handbrake and throw himself under the vehicle, Justice Taylor said.
A resident confronted Field and pursued him to Herne Hill Primary School.
Police arrested Field after he swung a star picket at them and asked them to shoot him.
Field’s family, including his mother and grandfather, wrote letters of support for him, which Justice Taylor described as a “remarkable” display of forgiveness.
During sentencing Justice Taylor acknowledged Field had suffered sexual abuse as a child and bullying as a teenager.
She noted his “strong” intention to give up drugs and educate others on their dangers after his release.
But she described his violence against “an elderly woman sitting in her kitchen” as “abhorrent” and said his actions would permanently scar his family.
Without a guilty plea Field would have faced nine years and six months in jail with a non-parole period of seven years, Justice Taylor said.
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