LAWYERS for the man found guilty of the brutal murder of Carly McBride say the jury should have been allowed to consider an alternative verdict of manslaughter and argued the judge failed to give an important direction to jurors as part of a push to have his conviction overturned and a new trial ordered.
The state's highest court - the Court of Criminal Appeal - sat in Newcastle on Thursday for only the second time since 2005 to hear one of the Hunter's most significant cases in recent memory.
