A man who stabbed his dad to death while celebrating his 18th birthday at Gateshead told friends he was protecting his girlfriend after his father punched her in the head.
Jacob James Callaghan, now 19, appeared in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday via audio-visual link from jail and admitted to killing his father, 37-year-old Matthew Callaghan.
Matthew Callaghan died after he was stabbed three times in the heart at his home in Mahogany Crescent late on January 9 last year - the night of his son's 18th birthday party.
Paramedics found him alone in the home about 11.10pm after all of the other partygoers had fled.
Jacob Callaghan had been charged with murder, but prosecutors accepted a guilty plea to manslaughter after they were unable to exclude the possibility that the teenager believed his actions were necessary to defend himself.
He told a friend on the night of the stabbing that his father had punched his girlfriend, Jinaya Taylor, and then when he had attempted to intervene, his father had tried to stomp on his head.
"I jumped up and ran to the bathroom and grabbed the knife," Jacob Callaghan said.
"I told dad to 'f--- off'.
"Dad ran at me, so I stabbed him once.
"Dad came at me again and I stabbed him a couple more times."
Jacob Callaghan remains behind bars and will appear in Newcastle District Court next month to get a sentence date.
Taylor has pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter and will face a trial.
According to court documents, Jacob Callaghan was celebrating his 18th birthday at his father's home on January 9 last year when guests and neighbours heard an argument coming from a back room.
As party-goers began leaving, witnesses described hearing yelling and people shouting "he just dipped [stabbed] him" and "he can't breathe properly".
Someone called triple-zero and paramedics arrived to find Matthew Callaghan alone in the home and bleeding profusely from wounds to his chest.
He was unresponsive and went into cardiac arrest in the ambulance.
Despite attempts to revive him, Matthew Callaghan was pronounced dead about 11.50pm.
Meanwhile, Jacob Callaghan and Taylor had gone to a friend's house, where Callaghan said "I just dipped my dad".
He detailed how his father had punched Taylor and he had intervened, been pushed over and his father had tried to stomp on his head.
He said he grabbed the knife and stabbed his father three times while the 37-year-old continued to come for him.
Jacob Callaghan pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis that he accepts his response was not a reasonable one in the circumstances, court documents state.
He also admitted to influencing a witness not to go to police after he threw a punch at a party-goer on the day before he was arrested.
Jacob Callaghan saw the man at Shortland and accused him of telling police he was the one who stabbed his father.
When the victim denied speaking to police, Jacob Callaghan said "you better not write a statement", patted him on the back and left.
