A man who fatally struck a father-of-two in the face with a rifle butt has sought to appeal his sentence, claiming the offence was incorrectly described as premeditated.
Ethan Maurice McPherson pleaded guilty in April 2023 to unlawful striking leading to the death of David Murphy at Springfield Lakes, southwest of Brisbane.
He was sentenced to eight and a half years' imprisonment with a requirement to serve 80 per cent of the term before being eligible for parole.
McPherson appeared before the Court of Appeal in Brisbane on Thursday to represent himself in an application for leave to appeal his sentence.
McPherson said his verbal threat made to Murphy prior to striking him had been "elevated to premeditation" and contributed to the "very severe" jail term.
"I knew something was going to happen. I said 'I'm going to shoot you'. I tried to scare him off," McPherson said.
Murphy had been celebrating his 49th birthday with family members on the evening of October 19, 2019 when his group and McPherson's group had a confrontation beside a road.
Murphy punched one of McPherson's friends and in return McPherson, then aged 19, pulled out a shortened, bolt-action rifle and threatened to shoot.
Murphy put his arms out and said, "Go on, shoot me" before McPherson instead used the rifle butt to hit him in the face, causing him to hit his head on a gutter.
McPherson then drove away, yelling "next time, it will be a bullet".
Murphy never regained consciousness and was declared dead at the scene by paramedics.
McPherson on Thursday told the Court of Appeal that Murphy was an older and larger man who was also intoxicated on the night in question.
"He had his arms outstretched. There was a jolt in his step. He activated my fight-or-flight mechanism.
"I did not forcefully strike him," McPherson said.
Court of Appeal President Debra Mullins told McPherson his other claim of provocation was not applicable to the charge of unlawful striking.
"This offence is there to stop people, usually young people, doing something very silly that causes the tragic death of someone else," she said.
McPherson said his sentencing had unfairly compared his offence to other cases where the offenders had extensive criminal records and had struck their victims repeatedly.
Crown prosecutor Sarah Dennis said McPherson's sentence had taken into account his traumatic brain injury and the difficulties it would cause him in custody.
Justice Mullins agreed with McPherson that he was seeking only a modest reduction in sentence and reserved the court's decision.
McPherson on his current sentence will be able to apply for parole in 2026 due to time served on remand.
