Accused gives evidence in trial over death of Chad Hadden

TRAGIC: Chad Hadden died about five months after he was struck in the head outside the Queens Wharf Hotel in Newcastle in January, 2018.

A MAN accused of punching Chad Hadden - causing him to "hit the deck" and suffer head injuries that would claim his life some five months later - has denied he intended to hurt or "really seriously injure" his old school mate and rejected suggestions he was angry at the moment he threw the fatal blow. Shane Holmes, 46, on Wednesday took the stand to give evidence during his murder trial in Newcastle Supreme Court, telling the jury he was not trying to injure Mr Hadden when Mr Hadden confronted him and threatened him outside the Queens Wharf Hotel on January 14, 2018.

Mr Holmes has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but not guilty to murder, with the trial focusing on Mr Holmes's state of mind and whether he or not he had the intention to cause Mr Hadden "really serious bodily injury" at the moment he threw the punch that knocked him to the ground. Under cross-examination from Crown prosecutor Rob Munro, Mr Holmes said the confrontation with Mr Hadden outside the hotel unfolded too quickly to "talk him down" and he chose to punch him in the head.

He repeatedly denied suggestions that he was trying to hurt or injure Mr Hadden when he threw the punch and said he just reacted to Mr Hadden poking him in the face and threatening to kill him.

He denied that he was angry at Mr Hadden for earlier accusing him of stealing his tobacco, which resulted in the pair wrestling inside the hotel and getting kicked out by security. But he later said anger was one of the emotions he was feeling.

SCENE: The Queens Wharf Hotel, as it appeared in January, 2018, where Shane Holmes and Chad Hadden had been drinking before Mr Holmes struck Mr Hadden.

"It's hard to say because it was so quick and I just reacted to what he had done to me," Mr Holmes said. "With having the word "kill" and when he said "kill" he struck me in the face, I just reacted with a punch."

Mr Hadden died in hospital on June 27, 2018, with an autopsy revealing his cause of death was complications from blunt force head injuries.

Expert medical evidence, Mr Munro said during his opening address, would suggest it was the first punch that significantly contributed to Mr Hadden's death and the trial has focused on Mr Holmes's state of mind and intention at that moment.