Man gets five years for manslaughter

A 66-year-old man was today jailed for five years and eight months for what a Supreme Court judge described as “a tragic accident” for which the man was responsible.

Lance William Joinbee, pleaded guilty on Friday to unlawfully killing Nigel Stuart Egan, 33, at Kelly’s Camp near Kalbarri on December 31, 2013.

He was sentenced in the Supreme Court Justice Ralph Simmonds at Geraldton today.

Joinbee was previously charged with murder, but the lesser charge of manslaughter was substituted after negotiations between defence and prosecution lawyers.

The court was told Joinbee was among a group of family members, including his former defacto and mother of the victim, when an argument broke out between Joinbee and Mr Egan.

During the argument in a camp kitchen, Mr Ryan struck Joinbee in the left eye and later over his back with a plastic chair.

Joinbee grabbed a kitchen knife and pointed it towards Mr Egan to warn him off, but the altercation continued, eventually resulting in the victim being stabbed in the heart and dying at the scene.

Justice Simmonds said he accepted Joinbee had not intended to kill Mr Egan but should not have aggravated the situation by using the knife.

“This was a tragic accident, albeit one for which you must bear responsibility,” he told Joinbee.

Justice Simmonds made him eligible for parole after serving three months and eight years of his sentence.