A man has had his murder conviction and 16-year prison sentence overturned after an appeals court ruled that the fatal beating of motorcyclist Clint Starkey may have been intended solely as a “hide-out.”
Starkey was ‘quickly and violently attacked’ by four men on 5 April 2017 at a Caltex service station in Peats Ridge on the Central Coast of New South Wales.
The 42-year-old man died in Gosford Hospital two months later after failing to recover from serious head injuries.
Colin Crane was convicted of Starkey’s murder and sentenced on 11 November 2022 to 16 years in prison with a non-parole period of 10 years and nine months.
At the time of his arrest in 2018, police described Crane as a “lifelong” member of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang.
Crown prosecutors alleged Colin Crane and his brother James Crane arranged for the attackers to attack Starkey, intending at least to cause him serious harm.
During the trial, the jury was told the men did so because of threats allegedly made by Starkey against them and their family.
Colin Crane and James Crane were convicted in July 2022 of murder as accessories to the crime.
Clint Starkey, 42, was “quickly and violently attacked” by four men at a Caltex service station on the NSW Central Coast in 2017
Rebels member Colin Crane (pictured during his arrest in 2018) has had his murder conviction overturned.
Adam Symons, Beau McDonald and Guy Robertson were also convicted of murder over the beating, while another man, Jake McDonough, was found guilty of manslaughter and a final co-defendant, Simon Rodden, was found not guilty.
Also today, the appeals court ordered Robertson to receive a new trial for his alleged role in the fatal assault.
He is scheduled to appear in court on the matter on August 2.
At Wednesday’s sentencing acquitting Colin Crane, Judge Ian Harrison said the evidence against him did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had indicated he wanted Starkey to be assaulted to a degree that would cause him genuinely serious injury.
Judge Harrison said it would be up to the jury to determine whether the men who attacked Starkey had gone there on Crane’s orders or not, “with the sole intention of giving him what might colloquially be described as a beating”.
“The attackers were unarmed even though they presumably knew that Mr. Starkey had a history of possessing firearms,” Judge Harrison said.
The 42-year-old man died in Gosford Hospital two months later after failing to recover from serious head injuries.
‘The fact that what happened at the petrol station was probably recorded by a CCTV camera, something the attackers would have been aware of, also suggests they were not worried about being arrested, something that seems highly unlikely if the plan was to cause really serious injuries.’
Judge Harrison said the Crown’s case was strengthened by the “animosity demonstrated by Crane towards Starkey, which only invites one conclusion when there are several available possibilities”.
The trial heard evidence of an altercation between Crane and Starkey on April 3, 2017.
Witnesses told the trial they heard Crane yell: “I’m going to get you, you fucking dog.”
Starkey’s aunt also testified that she spoke to Crane the next day and reported that he told her he was “going to kill him.”
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