A Port Hedland man who murdered another man by stabbing him in the neck with a broken bottle has been sentenced to life in prison.
Christopher John Jones, 21, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of Western Australia to murdering James Ackling after a party in Port Hedland in September 2020.
The Supreme Court was told Mr Ackling, who was not known to Jones, had arrived at the party at about 9:30pm with his partner and four children.
Jones was drunk and developed an irrational anger towards Mr Ackling over the course of the evening.
The court heard that at about 1:00am Mr Ackling tried to book a rideshare vehicle home with his family and that Jones started to threaten him.
Jones started throwing punches, but the victim used his weight to overpower Jones and pin him to the ground.
After he was released, Jones went back into the unit to grab a large chef's knife from the kitchen, but was forced to drop it by another guest.
By this time, Mr Ackling had walked down the street in an attempt to avoid further confrontation but Jones picked up a glass bottle, walked up to Mr Ackling and tapped him on the shoulder.
When Mr Ackling turned around, Jones hit him with the broken bottle, which caused a nine-centimetre-deep cut and severed his carotid artery.
Mr Ackling bled to death within minutes, despite first responders' attempts at first aid.
Jones ran away down the street but was later arrested at the scene by police.
In an interview with police, Jones gave a false version of events before eventually admitting to striking Mr Ackling with something he had found on the ground, but claimed he acted in self-defence.
Jones told police Mr Ackling was looking at him in a disrespectful way earlier in the evening and had attacked him without warning, but this was found to be untrue.
Jones was sentenced to life in prison and will be eligible for parole after 14 years.
The court heard Jones experienced a traumatic childhood where he was exposed to domestic violence and had self-harmed.
It was determined Jones had cognitive impairments, anxiety and problems with social aspects of communication and emotional regulation.
Justice Stephen David Hall told the court that Jones's guilty plea, young age, childhood trauma, cognitive impairments and remorse for his actions were mitigating factors in the sentencing.
