Daniel Bruce Boyton, 25, not guilty of attempted murder, but convicted of lesser charge

In a Wagga District Court judge-only trial, Daniel Bruce Boyton, 25, was found not guilty of wounding Robert Fitzgerald with intent to murder, but guilty of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm.

Boyton was also found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice after he enlisted someone to discourage Mr Fitzgerald from giving evidence.

In delivering his verdict on Thursday, Judge Gordon Lerve said Mr Fitzgerald had suffered a stab wound to his abdomen and that the resulting injuries included a lacerated liver.

Earlier in the week, Judge Lerve had told the court it was agreed that Mr Boyton did in fact stab Mr Fitzgerald, but his intentions were the key question.

“The issue, in respect of count one, is if the Crown can prove there was an intention to kill,” he said on Wednesday.

In his evidence, Mr Fitzgerald told the court Boyton had said “I am going to kill you, you c…. I am Boyto, this is what I do”.

However, Judge Lerve said on Thursday these words were not part of the initial complaint to police and that he could not be satisfied they were spoken by Boyton.

Judge Lerve told the court the incident occurred in a house at Ashmont on May 29, 2017, and that the two men had exchanged words after Boyton broke a piece of glass pipe and Mr Fitzgerald told him to pick it up.

In his evidence about the stabbing, Mr Fitzgerald said Boyton left the room then shortly after came back and that as he turned in his chair, Boyton had stabbed him.

Boyton’s evidence was that he and Mr Fitzgerald had a confrontation, and afterwards thought he had heard Mr Fitzgerald going through drawers, so he picked up a knife that was near a fish tank.

The charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice arose from a phone call while Boyton was in jail, where calls are recorded.

Boyton will be sentenced on March 8, 2019.