National

Man who stabbed his mum's partner acquitted of murder

By AAP Newswire

Sep 5, 2024

Wollongong Courthouse file image — A jury has found Luke Harding not guilty of murdering his mother's boyfriend. -AAP Image

A man who stabbed his mother's boyfriend multiple times in the chest after being beaten with a table leg and choked has been acquitted of murder.

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Luke Kevin Richard Harding, 28, stood trial in the NSW Supreme Court charged with murdering Traynor Anton Walters with a kitchen knife in the early hours of July 2, 2022 at Warilla, a seaside suburb near Wollongong.

After deliberating for a day, the jury returned to the Wollongong courthouse with a verdict of not guilty on Thursday.

Mr Harding previously gave evidence to the court that he had ordered takeaway food and drank several glasses of bourbon and cola while listening to music and watching the NRL with his family the evening before.

His mother Renee Harding was there with Mr Walters, her partner of six months.

He said he had fallen asleep on the lounge only to be woken between 1am and 2am after being hit twice by Mr Walters on the side of the head with a leg broken off a coffee table.

Ms Harding previously gave evidence she had been arguing with her then-partner about a six-metre-long pet carpet python that had been released from its tank while she cleaned it.

Her son claimed Mr Walters picked him up, throwing him off the lounge and onto another coffee table before straddling him on the ground.

The 98kg man punched Harding in the face again before choking him.

Harding's barrister Scott Fraser argued his client had acted in self-defence, a position accepted by the jury.

It meant they could not find beyond reasonable doubt that Harding acted unlawfully when stabbing Mr Traynor.