Shane Holmes's state of mind and whether or not he had the intention to cause Chad Hadden "really serious bodily injury" at the moment he punched his old school mate - causing him to "hit the deck" and suffer head injuries that would claim his life some five months later - outside the Queens Wharf Brewery in 2018 will be the key issue during his murder trial, a jury has heard.
Mr Holmes, 46, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but not guilty to murder and faced the first day of a trial in Newcastle Supreme Court on Tuesday.
During his opening address, Crown prosecutor Rob Munro took the jury through the day of the assault, an outline of witness accounts, the injuries Mr Hadden suffered and a police interview with Mr Holmes.
"[Mr Holmes] told the police, in part, the following: "Chad came over from that side of the road... he came right up to me," Mr Munro said, reading from Mr Holmes's interview.
"He pointed, he said to me "you ever do that again, I'll friggen kill you".
"And I went like, that is when I just lost my shit. "I just went boom. I hooked him once, he hit the deck. I stood over him and said "I can't friggen believe you done that".
"He was still conscious looking at me. I slapped him on the face on the ground."
But Mr Munro said that four witnesses outside the Queens Wharf Brewery on January 14, 2018, told police they saw a man on his back either unresponsive or not moving while another man crouched over the top of him yelling and punching him with closed fists to the side of the head.
One witness claims he heard Mr Holmes say: "you dog ass c---".
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, would suggest it was the first punch that significantly contributed to Mr Hadden's death and the trial will focus on Mr Holmes's state of mind and intention at that moment.
Mr Holmes has maintained he did not intend to seriously injure Mr Hadden.
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