A County Durham father-of-two who was fatally stabbed while visiting Australia will not see his attacker face a conventional criminal trial after a judge ruled the man was not criminally responsible due to mental impairment.

Thirty-year-old Royce Mallett, from Haswell, was in the regional New South Wales town of Albury in July 2024 when he was stabbed once in the chest while sitting in the driver’s seat of a car parked outside the Hume Inn Motel. He died a short time later despite efforts to save him.

An Australian man was charged over the killing and entered a plea of not guilty to murder on the grounds of mental impairment. The case came before the Supreme Court of New South Wales, where psychiatric evidence and witness accounts were examined.

Justice Dina Yehia found that the accused did carry out the fatal stabbing but accepted that, at the time of the incident, he was suffering from a mental health impairment so significant that he did not understand his actions were wrong, and could not reason about them with a moderate degree of sense and composure.

On that basis, the court determined he could not be held criminally responsible under Australian law. Instead of a prison sentence, he has been ordered to be detained in a secure mental health facility for an indefinite period. His progress and any potential release will be monitored by the state’s Mental Health Review Tribunal, which has the power to vary or continue his detention.

Family left facing lifelong impact

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Mallett’s partner, Caitlin O’Keeffe, described the profound emotional and financial strain caused by his death, saying her life had been turned upside down and their two young children were growing up without their father.

The court also heard that Mr Mallett’s father, Roy, no longer takes pleasure in the hobbies he once shared with his son and now struggles to find motivation in day-to-day life.

For the family, the ruling offers formal recognition of what happened but no real sense of closure. While the man who killed Mr Mallett has been detained, the decision that he will not face a traditional criminal trial leaves loved ones still grappling with their loss.