Hunting trip gone wrong ends with manslaughter charge

Three men were charged after one of their friends died from a gunshot wound during a hunting trip two years ago.

Fathi Khalil, 45, and three others went on a hunting trip at the Come by Chance property near Walgett in north-central NSW on March 1, 2024.

Police said emergency services attended the scene following reports that one of the men had been injured after falling from the plane.

Police claimed that paramedics identified and treated the 47-year-old man with a gunshot wound, but he could not be saved.

During the crime scene investigation, all firearms used during the trip were confiscated and a report was prepared for the coroner.

More than two years after the trip, Khalil was arrested at Mount Druitt Police Station in Sydney’s west on Friday.

He was accused of murder and using an unlicensed weapon.

Khalil was granted conditional bail at Mount Druitt Local Court and will return to court in Walgett on May 11.

Two other men in the group, aged 42 and 39, were also issued court attendance notices on weapons charges and will appear at Walgett Local Court on May 11.