Daniel Sharpe sentenced to seven and a half years jail for Surfside killing

A Batemans Bay man has been sentenced to over seven years in jail for stabbing his neighbour to death.

Daniel Sharpe, 20, was convicted of manslaughter by a jury in the Queanbeyan court in February.

Sharpe stabbed his neighbour Andrew Drake 11 times, after an altercation between Mr Drake and Sharpe’s father.

Mr Drake and his sister had been invited to the Sharpes’ home for a friendly late-night drink, and to listen to music.

They barely knew each other, but Mr Drake had chatted to Sharpe’s father over the fence, complimenting him on his choice of music.

Things began to unravel when Sharpe had a disagreement with his father and left the shed where they were drinking.

Soon after Sharpe found Mr Drake and his father in a scuffle.

Sharpe said Mr Drake had a knife, and had stabbed his father’s hand.

He said he grabbed the knife, before stabbing Mr Drake multiple times.

He told the court he had been terrified for his own life and for his father’s life.

Sharpe gave graphic details to the court about the stabbing.

“I pushed the knife into his abdomen and something went pop,” he said

He also said he continued to hit and stab Mr Drake as the fight moved outside.

One of the knife wounds passed directly through Mr Drake’s heart.

Jury determines Sharpe acted in self-defence

Just who had the knife first was a key issue in the case.

Prosecutors told the jury Andrew Drake never had a knife, and Sharpe had made it up.

But Justice Geoffrey Bellew said the conviction for manslaughter showed the jury accepted Sharpe’s account.

“The jury decision suggests they found the defendant acted in defence of himself and his father but did so with excessive force,” he said.

In sentencing him today Justice Bellew acknowledged the result.

“I accept it was not the offender who introduced the knife,” he said.

Justice Bellew also recognised that Sharpe had entrenched mental health issues and had suffered from the trauma of the event.

He also noted Sharpe’s youth, and that he had apologised in court to Mr Drake’s family.

But Justice Bellew said he still had some reservations.

“I am guarded about his prospects of rehabilitation,” he said.

He said Sharpe has shown some regret, “but regret is not the same as remorse”.

“I am not satisfied he has shown genuine remorse.”

Sharpe has been sentenced to seven years and six months in jail, and will serve four years and nine months non-parole — meaning he will be eligible for release in 2024.