Pictured: Son who killed his father at the family home in a bitter brawl – as his mother says their family will move on with ‘love and unity’
- Amon Waddell has received seven year sentence for killing father in 2018 brawl
- Waddell was 25 when he punched and strangled Phillip Waddell at their home
- Amon and Phillip Waddell had a heated verbal confrontation earlier that day
- Judge said incident in Maadi, far north Queensland, had been a ‘catastrophe’
- He added father’s death would have been prevented if either had walked away
A son who punched and strangled his father to death at their family home has been sentenced to seven years behind bars.
Amon Waddell, then 25, will spend at least 22 months in prison after killing Phillip Waddell in Maadi in Queensland’s far north when underlying family tension turned physical in March 2018.
Describing the alcohol-fuelled incident as a ‘catastrophe’, Justice Jim Henry said the death could have been prevented if either father or son had just walked away.
Amon Waddell (pictured), who punched and strangled his father to death at their family home, has been sentenced to seven years behind bars
The situation reached breaking point, Cairns Supreme Court heard, after the father and son had a verbal confrontation earlier in the day at the nearby Feluga Hotel.
The court heard both parties suffered their own personal trauma prior to the altercation, the Cairns Post reported.
The elder Waddell had been soured by an injury to his shoulder suffered in the workplace.
Meanwhile, the younger had received a head injury in a motorcycle accident the year before.
Amon Waddell told a psychologist his father had become physically abusive, adding ‘he wasn’t the man who raised me, but he was still my Dad’.
Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane said the two were not on good terms at the time of the incident, and Phillip Waddell had told his son ‘if you don’t like it, you can move out’.
Describing the alcohol-fuelled incident as a ‘catastrophe’, Justice Jim Henry said the death could have been prevented if either father or son had just walked away (Phillip Waddell pictured right)
Sentencing Waddell on Friday, however, Justice Henry said the cause for their fight was a mystery.
Waddell pleaded guilty to manslaughter the day before and will be eligible for parole in July 2021.
In a statement provided to the court by his mother Jane Waddell, she said despite what had happened her family would move on with ‘love and understanding.’
The situation reached breaking point, Cairns Supreme Court (pictured) heard, after the father and son had a verbal confrontation earlier in the day at the nearby Feluga Hotel