LATEST NEWS
Andriyas Tello pleads guilty to manslaughter over the
death of Matthew McEvoy, who died after he was punched
outside Queensbridge Hotel.
  
Herald Sun
May 17, 2010
  

A MAN celebrating his 21st birthday when he instigated the death of a young man by punching him twice to the head outside the city's Queensbridge hotel told police he was angry and "a bit tipsy'' at the time.

Andriyas Tello appeared in the Supreme Court today having pleaded guilty to manslaughter over the death of 24-year-old Matthew McEvoy.

Mr McEvoy was punched and kicked in the head in the smokers' pit outside the Southbank hotel in the early hours of September 7, 2008.

He never regained consciousness and died in hospital.

During Tello's plea hearing today, attended by his relatives and still-grieving members of Mr McEvoy's family, prosecutor Gary Hevey described the 16 seconds of violent stupidity that ended Mr McEvoy's life.

Tello punched Mr McEvoy twice, while a co-offender kicked him in the head after an earlier altercation inside the venue that appeared to have resolved peacefully.

Mr Hevey said Mr McEvoy was not defending himself or involved in any aggressive behaviour at the time he was attacked.

Emotional victim impact statements were read to the court.

"Heartbroken doesn't even describe how I feel,'' Mr McEvoy's mother, Mairead McEvoy, wrote in her statement.

"There isn't a day goes by that I don't shed tears.''

Mr McEvoy's dad, Peter, wrote that the memories of his ``beautiful, big, strong son'' lying in a hospital bed connected to tubes and wires still haunted him to this day.

Justice Paul Coghlan said he would never be able to ``come to grips'' with senseless cases such as this one.

He will sentence Tello next Wednesday.
 

Offcanvas Menu