AN ALCOHOLIC who murdered an Armidale man in a brutal bashing on Christmas Eve has been jailed for 18 years.
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Cecil Paul Briggs, who is already behind bars, won’t be eligible for release for at least a decade after learning his fate in the Sydney Supreme Court yesterday afternoon.
Briggs violently attacked his friend, Douglas James Bindley at Mr Bindley’s Brown St unit in a fit of rage on December 24, 2012.
Using a small, black baseball bat and a wooden chair leg, Briggs, who had been drinking at the time, attacked Mr Bindley, striking him at least 24 times and leaving him seriously injured.
Two men in a shop across the road heard an argument in the unit and police were called before Briggs was arrested.
The 47-year-old victim was taken to Armidale hospital, but his condition deteriorated and he died on Boxing Day.
Before he died, Mr Bindley had managed to tell detectives who attacked him, adding “[Cecil] was going off at me and he came inside,” before detailing the assault.
New England detectives arrested and charged Briggs with the assault but the offences were upgraded to murder following Mr Bindley’s death.
Briggs has been in custody since Boxing Day, 2012.
Justice Richard Button found the injuries inflicted by Briggs, combined with the pre-existing frailty of the victim, led to his death in hospital.
“Here, the victim of this homicide was a frail and defenceless middle-aged man. He was attacked in his own home. The beating was extended and no doubt painful and terrifying,” he read in his judgment.
After sentencing submissions from both sides, Justice Button found Briggs had “intended to inflict really serious physical injury, and not to kill,” and that the offence was not premeditated.
Briggs had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but denied murder, sparking a Supreme Court trial which was heard in June this year.
The 43-year-old then pleaded guilty to the murder charge after hearing evidence from a forensic pathologist in court, forcing the end of the two-week trial before an Armidale jury.
Shortly after the plea, Briggs took the stand and told the court “Dougie was my mate,” adding, “I didn’t want to hurt Dougie.”
Yesterday, Justice Button acknowledged Briggs had struggled with alcohol and drugs for decades but was remorseful, with evidence before the court revealing Briggs doid not remember much of the day of the murder.
But in sentencing, Justice Button said Briggs was on conditional liberty at the time of the offence, a seriously aggravating feature of the attack.
“The attack was not cold-blooded, but rather completely unplanned, and occurred when the offender was in a highly emotional state,” he said in his judgment.
Briggs was jailed for a maximum of 18 years, but he will be eligible for parole after 13 years.
Justice Button said if Briggs could get help to overcome his addictions while in custody, he had good prospects of rehabilitation.
After time already served, Briggs could be released in 2025.