Daniel Davies - 40 years for murder

[Nomen Nescio]

A KILLER who gunned down his mate two days before he was due to testify against him in court smirked as he was sentenced to 40 years jail.

But it was met with a mixture of sorrow and relief for relatives of Damien Meredith, who had hoped his killer, Daniel James Davies, would be jailed for life.

Davies, now 25, was found guilty by a jury of murdering Mr Meredith on September 28.

The trial heard that Mr Meredith had been due to testify against Davies for shooting him in the foot.

But two days before Mr Meredith was to take the stand against his friend of two years, Davies lured him to a remote bushland site outside.

Davies shot him in the head at point-blank range but when Mr Meredith survived and tried to run away, his assassin fired several more bullets into his head.

Co-offender Peter John Carruthers then ran over him with a car. He pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed for 25 years.

The court heard that a year after burying the father of one in a shallow grave, Davies returned and exhumed the body, used a machete to cut it into pieces, placed it in bags and dumped it at a waste centre.

Acting Justice David Patten yesterday said the motive for the crime was "so disproportionate" to any threat by Mr Meredith that he deemed it had a "very high degree of criminality".

He said the killing was "carefully planned and brutally executed by a man with a violent history who has shown no sign of remorse".

Davies, whose 19-year-old partner and 3-year-old daughter regularly visit him in jail, was spared a life sentence due to his age and history of psychiatric problems.

Wearing T-shirts displaying Mr Meredith's photograph and the slogan "Justice for Damo", the victim's family sobbed during sentencing.

Outside, they expressed disappointment at not hearing "life".

"It's not justice - it should have been life," the victim's sister, Lisa Forbes-Harper, said.

"The hideous crime that they committed - what have they got to do to get life?"

Mr Meredith's mother, Josephine Brace, described Davies as "an absolute monster". "It should have been life - my son got life," she said.

Davies will have to serve at least 30 years.

[Lu R]

"Nomen Nescio" <nob...@dizum.com> wrote in message
news:ddf70b2874f0470b...@dizum.com...

This case happened in 2006 ffs!. Get a life retard.
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