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Sydney man guilty of manslaughter of home invader killed with samurai sword

Blake Davis (right) was found guilty of manslaughter and Hannah Quinn of being an accessory.

Blake Davis (right) was found guilty of manslaughter and Hannah Quinn of being an accessory. Photo: AAP

A Sydney man has been cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter after a samurai sword killing during a botched home invasion more than two years ago.

Blake Davis, 31, faced a trial in the NSW Supreme Court with his partner Hannah Quinn, 26, over the death of rapper Jett McKee in August 2018.

The jury heard 30-year-old McKee threatened the pair with a fake gun in their inner-city granny flat before Davis cracked his skull with the weapon in the street.

The couple pleaded not guilty and claimed self-defence.

It took the jury just over a day to find Davis not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

Quinn was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter.

The pair hugged and cried in the dock after hearing the result.

Relatives of McKee said, “Thank you” and “Gotcha” in the public gallery.

Justice Natalie Adams had previously directed jurors to find Ms Quinn not guilty of murder.

In her police interview, Quinn recalled chasing McKee down Hereford Street, in Forest Lodge, attempting to retrieve a bag he took and then screaming as a replica weapon was pointed at her.

She said there was “blood everywhere” after her boyfriend swung the sword.

Quinn denied having any premeditation to murder the rapper.

The jury was told knuckle dusters were also used in the home invasion.

Davis told the court a gun was waved at him in their home and while he didn’t remember being punched, he came around to the sounds of his girlfriend’s screams.

He said he thought Quinn’s life was in danger and used the sword to save her.

Davis said McKee had said: “People know where your f–king family lives, give me all your money or we’ll kill your family too”.

He described his memory of the events as “disjointed”.

Davis and Quinn spent days in hotels after the incident before handing themselves in at Newtown Police Station.

The court heard McKee had toxic to lethal amounts of the drug ice in his system.

McKee had a history of violent home invasions, jurors heard, and may have targeted the home because he knew the defendants were allegedly dealing drugs.

-ABC

Topics: Murder
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