A Crown prosecutor has described the alleged murder of a 16-year-old Kooringal High School student in one chilling final word – “brutal”.
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The jury will now deliberate in the Wagga Supreme Court trial against Bryce Cliff, who is alleged to have murdered James Cleghorn in his Acacia Street home on June 7, 2016.
Cliff, of Wollongong, has pleaded not guilty to murder. He opted to plead guilty to manslaughter but that was not accepted by the prosecution.
In the final words the jury heard from the Crown on Thursday, Max Pincott reminded the court of James’ final message before he was stabbed about 30 times.
James’ school friend had told him he would not be coming over to play games that afternoon, to which he replied “brutal”.
“He couldn’t possibly have known that very word would describe the attack that ended his life – within the next hour,” Mr Pincott said.
During the final address, Mr Pincott told the jury to disregard Cliff’s drug consumption when determining a verdict.
Mr Pincott also told the jury that Cliff stealing a car after the stabbing proved he had a guilty conscience.
“He (Cliff) jumped several fences of various residents and told them he was stabbed, which was clearly untrue,” he said.
“We say he was quite clearly trying to make his escape.”
Mr Pincott reminded the jury that Cliff had removed the number-plates of the stolen car.
“He says he didn’t know why he did that, is that a genuine answer?” Mr Pincott asked.
“He later told police his name was Tim – then he lied in his interview.”
Defence counsel Eric Wilson told the jury the Crown needed to have convinced them beyond reasonable doubt that Cliff had the intent to murder or inflict grievous bodily harm in order to return a guilty verdict.
In his final address, Mr Wilson told the jury Cliff had a brotherly relationship with James. “There was a struggle, there was some punching – you might think someone who did that lost their self control,” he said.
“The question would be, with what intent?”
Mr Wilson told the jury Cliff had dropped various items behind him after the incident, which proved he wasn’t attempting to avoid detection.
The jury will continue to hear from the judge on Friday, before deliberating the verdict.