Sydney youth jailed for stabbing death of autistic man

November 28, 2008

AAP

November 28, 2008 01:50pm

A SCHOOLBOY who fatally stabbed a man with Asperger's syndrome in a

public toilet has been sentenced to a maximum of seven years in jail.

The 18-year-old Sydney youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons,

in August was found guilty of the manslaughter of Gerard Fleming.

Fleming, 35, was stabbed to death in a public toilet block at

Narrabeen, on Sydney's northern beaches, last June.

The 18-year-old said the stabbing occurred after Fleming - with whom

he had been sharing a beer while sheltering in the toilets during a

storm - approached him with his trousers pulled down and tried to

grab him in a bear hug.

The youth said he was provoked and acted to protect himself, a

defence accepted by the jury in its manslaughter verdict.

He faced up to 25 years in prison, but today in the New South Wales

Supreme Court he received a seven-year sentence, with a non-parole

period of 3½ years.

In handing down the sentence, Justice Kirby said the death

occurred due to a failure in communication.

" He feared that he may be raped or sexually assaulted, " Justice Kirby

told the court.

" He says, and I accept, he is not homophobic.

" (Fleming) was by all accounts a gentle and child-like man who was

utterly benign. This was in every sense a tragedy arising out of a

failure to communicate. "

Justice Kirby said the death was also the catastrophic consequence of

the boy's decision to carry around a knife.

" (It was) the product of immaturity as well as his decision to carry

a knife, " he said.

The boy previously said he did not know the toilet block was a gay

beat where homosexual men engaged in sexual activity after dark.

Outside court, the boy's lawyer Chapple SC said his client was

not considering an appeal against his sentence.

" He just wants to move on, " Mr Chapple said.

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