Overview
- Justice Dina Yehia delivered the special verdict Tuesday in the NSW Supreme Court, finding the fatal stabbing proven but without criminal responsibility.
- The ruling means he will be held in secure mental health care rather than sentenced to prison, with any change to his status decided by an independent tribunal.
- Evidence showed David Summers‑Smith bought a pack of steak knives hours before the July 2024 attack, stabbed Royce Mallett once through a car window, fled, then phoned police and admitted the act.
- Psychiatrists told the court he had treatment‑resistant schizophrenia with active psychosis, delusions and hallucinations, and recent methamphetamine use that worsened his illness after multiple hospital admissions and a recent discharge.
- Victim impact statements described profound, lasting harm to Mallett’s partner and two children, and his parents questioned why Summers‑Smith was living in the community on a treatment order before the killing.