NSW: Brawl erupts in Sydney court over stabbing death
14 Nov 2008 2:21 PMBy Belinda Cranston
SYDNEY, Nov 14 AAP - A distraught woman punched and slapped a man and screamed abuse at a NSW Supreme Court judge during a violent courtroom fight that erupted as her son's killer was jailed.
The fight lasting several minutes broke out as Moorebank man Jason Podesta,21, was sentenced to a minimum of five years in jail for fatally stabbing his mother's boyfriend, Steven Bannister.
Podesta had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Bannister, 24, even though he admitted to stabbing him after hearing rumours he was HIV positive.
He was convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter after arguing he had a "substantial mental impairment" at the time of the incident on November 22, 2006.
As Justice Lucy McCallum handed down the sentence, Mr Bannister's mother, Shirley Bannister, became enraged and lunged toward's Podesta's father, DeanFerrett, who was sitting nearby.
She punched and slapped Mr Ferrett repeatedly, before shouting at the stunned defence lawyers and storming towards the bench, swearing at Justice McCallum and screaming: "That was my son."
Justice McCallum quickly left the court, and Mrs Bannister continued to shout abuse as she was escorted from the room and out of the building.
Her son, Andrew Bannister, also joined in the melee, pushing people out of the way before punching two other men in the public gallery.
He was restrained by court officers and was also escorted from court.
Before the fight, the court was told Cathy Podesta, who was in her 40s, received a number of prank calls the day her lover died.
One caller told her he was Mr Bannister's boyfriend and that he had AIDs.
He allegedly told Mrs Podesta he had passed on the virus to her lover and suggested she have a test to confirm if she had also contracted the disease.
Justice McCallum said Mrs Podesta was understandably upset.
She went with her son and two others to confront Mr Bannister, who protested his innocence and became very emotional.
Podesta later stabbed Mr Bannister 21 times.
Justice McCallum said she took into account Podesta's "chaotic, dysfunctional and abusive family environment".
She also accepted a psychiatrist's report that Podesta suffered from schizophrenia, adding his mental illness reduced his moral responsibility for thefatal stabbing.
"The offender is a young adult and I accept he has reasonably good prospects of rehabilitation," the judge said.
Podesta will become eligible for parole in 2011.
NSW police said they had not received any complaint about the courtroom fight and as such were not investigating.
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