A West Australian man has been sentenced to 14 years behind bars over a deadly attack at an apartment building on Queensland’s Fraser Coast.
Joshua John Wishart, 36, pleaded guilty to four offences, including manslaughter and serious assault of a person over 60, after killing Alfred Westmoreland, 75, at the Tree Tops unit block in Hervey Bay in October 2023.
Mr Westmoreland died from blunt-force head injuries at the scene.
Justice Peter Davis said Wishart acted “in an extremely callous way” and showed “very limited remorse” to his victims at the Supreme Court in Maryborough.
“Your intention was violence and you rose to that very quickly,” Justice Davis said.
Wishart, who appeared va video link from custody, appeared aggravated and left the interview room before his sentence was delivered.
“Give me a transcript, I’m not f***ing hearing that,” Wishart said.
Mr Westmoreland’s wife, Lynette Westmoreland, was emotional when the sentence was handed down.
Wishart will be eligible for parole on January 10, 2034, once nine years of his sentence have been served.
Refund demands sparked altercation
Crown prosecutor Stephen Muir told the court Wishart had travelled from Perth to Hervey Bay to attend the funeral of his uncle, which was held on the day of the Tree Tops incident.
Wishart booked a session with a sex worker who lived at the unit complex.
Defence barrister Joseph Briggs said his client felt “deceived” by the escort because the advertisement pictured a younger woman.
Wishart then demanded the woman pay him $50 to cover the cost of his taxi fare.
Joshua James Wishart was sentenced to 14 years behind bars over the death of Alfred Westmoreland. (ABC Wide Bay: James C Taylor)
Mr Muir said Ms Westmoreland came downstairs and warned Wishart the police had been contacted.
Mr Briggs told the court Wishart incorrectly presumed Ms Westmoreland had been involved with the sex worker’s agency.
The court heard Wishart said: “You don’t know who you’re messing with” to Ms Westmoreland before he punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground.
Mr Muir said Wishart then struck Ms Westmoreland again after she got back to her feet.
Mr Westmoreland came downstairs to protect his wife and the sex worker when Wishart delivered the deadly blow following a verbal exchange.
Mr Muir said it was “bizarre” that Wishart took a photograph of Mr Westmoreland while the victim was on the ground.
The court heard Wishart left the apartment complex shortly afterwards to buy alcohol.
Defendant’s difficult childhood
Mr Briggs told the court Wishart’s upbringing was marred by addiction and family issues.
The court heard Wishart struggled with alcohol and substances including cannabis, methamphetamine and anabolic steroids from a young age.
Mr Briggs said the separation of Wishart’s parents and his father’s suicide had deeply impacted his client.
“He has not learnt to overcome it, he’s still traumatised by it,” Mr Briggs said.
The court heard Wishart relapsed with alcohol and steroids prior to the offending.
The court heard Joshua Wishart struck Alfred Westmoreland after he stepped in to protect his wife and a sex worker. (ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Loram)
‘My soulmate’
After the sentence, Ms Westmoreland provided her victim impact statement to the ABC.
The statement said the couple had been married for nearly five decades that were filled with “happiness, shared experience and devotion to one another”.
“He was my soulmate, my partner in everything, and the person I loved most in this world,” Ms Westmoreland’s statement said.
She sustained multiple injuries during the attack, including wrist fractures and head and neck trauma, which would require ongoing medical treatment.
The statement said the violent attack “shattered a lifelong partnership, stolen a future full of unfulfilled plans and left behind a trail of grief that can never fully heal”.
