A FISHERMAN accused of murdering an Irish father-of-two by stabbing him in the head with a screwdriver has admitted he threatened violence over a "racist" comment.
Charlie McCarthy (32) died in Perth in Western Australia on December 23, 2017 when the tool Andrew Doan was holding pierced his temple and killed him.
Mr Doan (35) had been fishing with Tien Vu Huynh when Mr McCarthy, his wife Nicole and Jason Mikel Curran walked by.
Giving evidence at the Supreme Court of Western Australia yesterday, Mr Doan said the men asked: "Have you caught much?"
Their next comment - along the lines of "Fisheries are going to come and get you" - upset him and Mr Huynh, who are both Asian and interpreted it as racist.
The trio walked off but Mr Doan pursued them and an argument erupted.
He said his anger gave way to feeling outnumbered when Mr McCarthy began "puffing up" and walked back towards him. He said he panicked, reached into his hoodie pocket, pulled out a screwdriver he had been carrying for crabbing and held it above his head, saying: "Get back or I'll stab you."
Mr Doan said that as he retreated to his car, he had a scuffle with Mr Curran and Mr McCarthy. He said Mr McCarthy then charged and impaled himself on the screwdriver, which Mr Doan was still holding.
He remained at the scene until emergency services arrived, telling police "it was me", and claiming self-defence.
But prosecutor James Mactaggart said: "You deliberately stabbed Mr McCarthy when he came within arm's length of you."
