Daniel Devlin found guilty of manslaughter for attack that killed Ali Chaaban in Melbourne
A Melbourne courtroom erupted in cheers and applause after a man was found responsible for killing another in a streetside attack.
Daniel Devlin was found guilty of the premeditated murder of Ali Chaaban in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Friday afternoon after a week-long trial.
When the jury foreman announced the verdict, Mr. Chaaban’s family members, seated in the upstairs public gallery, stood and began applauding.
During the trial, Crown Prosecutor Jim Shaw told the jury Mr Chaaban was at home with his girlfriend and an old friend when he heard a knock at the front door shortly before noon on June 15, 2024.
Outside was Devlin, who Mr Shaw said knew Mr Chaaban but was not his friend.
“Ali Chaaban opened the door and told the defendant that he was not welcome,” the prosecutor said.
“An hour and a half later, Mr. Chaaban was at Austin Hospital in critical condition.”
The jury heard Mr Chaaban ripped Devlin’s shirt as the two men struggled against each other outside his home in Heidelberg West before he fell to the ground.
The pair were found wrestling a short time later when police arrived and dragged Devlin off Mr Chaaban.
Mr Shaw told the court it was the Crown’s case that Devlin subdued Mr Chaaban for several minutes while he was wrestling him.
“When this altercation was stopped by the police and Mr. Chaaban was in a pretty bad shape, we find that the defendant was still the aggressor and continued to attack him,” he said.
“The prosecution’s case is that this was clearly a dangerous thing, putting pressure on someone’s neck and throat for a long period of time.”
Mr Shaw said Devlin went to Mr Chaaban’s home “looking for trouble” and was caught on police body-worn cameras continuing to punch, kick and insult the fatally injured man.
Mr Chaaban died in hospital the next morning, the court heard, and the cause of death was blunt force trauma to his neck.
During the hearing, Devlin’s defense lawyer Justin Hannebery KC suggested there was an “alternative explanation” for Mr Chaaban’s death.
He argued that the presence of methamphetamine in Mr. Chaaban’s system meant jurors could not rule out that blunt force trauma was unrelated to his death.
Dr. who performed the autopsy told the court. He said Judith Fronczek could not say how the blunt force trauma occurred or when it occurred.
“It could have been temporary, it could have been long-term,” Mr. Hannebery said.
The defense lawyer also argued there was no evidence who started the fight and suggested Devlin’s subduing Mr Chaaban was an “inherently defensive” action.
“This is an action that achieves the purpose of stopping someone from physically assaulting you, and when you look at all the circumstances you can conclude that Mr Devlin was trying to achieve exactly that when he carried out this action,” he said.
Outside court, members of Mr Chaaban’s family said they were happy “justice has been served for Ali”.
Devlin will return to court for a pre-sentence hearing on March 31.
