A teenager accused of murdering Balin Stewart on the Sunshine Coast has admitted that he could have avoided or left the scene of a confrontation with the 16-year-old before the incident turned deadly.
The defendant was aged 17 when he had a fatal brawl with Balin after he was sent messages from the alleged victim and the defendant’s ex-girlfriend suggesting they had restarted a prior relationship.
Balin died just outside family’s home in Buddina about 11.30pm on January 20 last year after suffering a single stab wound to the heart from a steak knife.
The defendant chose to give evidence last week during his trial at Brisbane Supreme Court and crown prosecutor Rebecca Marks continued her cross-examination on Monday.
Ms Marks asked the defendant if he was in a “jealous rage” after being sent provocative videos of his ex-girlfriend with Balin.
“I was jealous but not in a rage, I didn’t want to go there to hurt him very badly. I went there for a fight specifically,” the defendant told the jury.
He denied he had told another witness he grabbed a steak knife “on impulse” and said it was “for safety” after being warned by a friend that Balin had a knife.
Ms Marks asked the teenager if he was feeling “angry but clear-headed” as he left his home about 11.20pm after asking Balin if he wanted to fight.
“I felt racy … I’d never gone to someone’s house and confronted them. I was nervous but I did it. Driving there I was s—ing myself,” the defendant said.
He agreed that he could have turned his car around during the five-minute drive to Balin’s house and that Balin told him to leave when he got there.
“I just didn’t stop, I went straight there. I didn’t think,” he said.
The defendant denied lying during his testimony on Friday that he had thrown the knife to one side once he saw Balin did not have a weapon, only to pick it up again after exchanging punches with Balin and wrestling on the ground.
“Why pick up the knife if the fight was over?” Ms Marks asked
“I wanted the fight to stay over. I wanted him to stay away,” the defendant said.
He repeated his previous testimony that he struck a blow to Balin as a reflex response to Balin punching him and he did not realise the knife was in his hand when he did so.
The teenager denied Ms Marks’ suggestion that he was making up large parts of his testimony about the confrontation to “get out of trouble” and also denied stabbing Balin with intent to kill or seriously injure him.
Under re-examination by his barrister, Charlotte Smith, the defendant denied telling his ex-girlfriend he was going to kill Balin, only threatening to do so if he approached him a second time.
The defence and prosecution are due to give their closing statements on Tuesday.
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