A New Zealand man who stabbed a 15-year-old Australian boy to death has been jailed for five years.
The New South Wales Supreme Court was told James Steven Williamson, 21, had shown remorse for his actions.
Williamson was 19 when he stabbed the 15-year-old with a broken glass
pipe during a fight at a party near Glendale, west of Newcastle, in 2006, the ABC reported. He had only recently arrived in Australia.
Williamson was facing a murder charge, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter in self-defence.
The youth died after Williamson stabbed him once to the stomach with a glass crack pipe, which he had broken moments before during a fight with the boy near a bushfire on September 15, 2006.
He told the court he did not remember stabbing the boy until he had "horrible" flashbacks about a month before his plea.
"I'm sorry for what I've done," he said. "If I could go back I would change it. I never meant to kill (the youth)."
The boy's mother read a victim impact statement to the court, in which she described her misery since losing him.
"The tears are there every day as much as the day I lost my boy," she told the court.
Williamson, who had no criminal record, will be eligible for parole in March next year after time already served.
- NZPA
