The man accused of murdering a UK tourist in a horrific random attack has been found not criminally responsible of murder because of mental health impairment, though the incident has still been proven to have taken place.
Supreme Court Justice Dina Yehia handed down the ‘special verdict’ of act proven without criminal responsibility on Tuesday, 20 months after David Summers-Smith fatally stabbed UK tourist and father-of-two Royce Mallet in the car park of a motel in regional NSW.
Both the prosecution and the defence were in agreement that Mr Summers-Smith’s history of ‘treatment-resistant schizophrenia with psychotic symptoms’ was the most likely reason he killed Mr Mallet in the car park of the Hume Motor Inn in Albury.
The pair had not been known to one another, and they had never interacted with each other before the incident, which took place on July 8, 2024 as Mr Mallet, aged 30 at the time, and his best friend Carl Fisher were road-tripping around Australia.
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Mr Fisher and Mr Mallet had been staying in the Hume Motor Inn at the time of the incident, which took place around 6.14pm as the pair were sitting in the two front seats of a Toyota Camry they had rented for their trip.
As the pair sat in the vehicle drinking beer, Mr Summers-Smith, who had been pacing around the car park with “his hands in his pocket” made a beeline for the Camry.
According to the agreed facts, the accused “dived through the open driver’s side window” where Mr Mallet had been sitting, and “stabbed the deceased once in his chest”.
As Mr Mallet lay dying, his attacker fled the scene.
The father-of-two was treated by paramedics at the scene, but died of a cardiac arrest at Albury Base Hospital just before 7pm.
The impact statements of family and friends were read out during proceedings, including the testimony of Mr Mallet’s partner Caitlin O’Keefe.
Court documents say Ms O’Keefe “spoke of the devastation that the deceased’s death has wrought, not only on her, but also on their two young children”.
“The strain upon their family has been immense, both emotionally and financially. She described the deceased as a loving father who played an active role in the family’s lives. She is now faced with having to raise their children alone, in the reality that her children will grow up without the guidance and support of their father,” the document reads.
“The impact of losing him is lifelong … it affects not just today, but every future moment that he should have been part of, and everyday moments that he’s already missed,” Ms O’Keefe said.
“His life mattered deeply.”
Mr Summers-Smith eventually called the police himself to say that he had done it, claiming over the phone to the operator that he “stabbed someone”.
“He confirmed that he used a ‘weapon’ to stab the person, specifically a ‘steak knife’ and that the did not have the knife on him. However, he said that he knew where the knife was and that it was in ‘a bush somewhere’” the facts say.
In assessments by defence and prosecution-appointed psychiatrists, the perpetrator was diagnosed with a “chronic and severe” form of schizophrenia which is resistant to most forms of treatment and characterised by “distortions in thinking, perception, emotions, language, sense of self and behaviour”.
Mr Summers-Smith will be held in a correctional facility.
