A CHEWTON man acted in excessive self-defence when he killed a notorious under
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world figure by whacking him in the head with a shovel, the judge who will sentence him said yesterday.
Supreme Court Justice Betty King heard yesterday that gangster Lee Patrick Torney struck the first blow in a fight with Graham John Holden at Chewton on April 16, 2005.
Torney hit Holden in the leg with a shovel, but came off second best when Holden killed him with at least three blows to the head.
Holden re-appeared in court yesterday after his murder trial was aborted on Wednesday so he could plead guilty to manslaughter.
Police arrested him in March last year, almost a year after he secretly killed Torney and dumped his body in an old mine shaft on Crown land at the back of his Dinah Road property.
Justice King heard yesterday that Holden, known as Bushy, was a well-liked and respected figure in the Castlemaine area.
A carpenter and handyman, he was popular with children, especially his 15 nieces and nephews, character witnesses said.
But things turned nasty when he struck up a friendship with Torney, a convicted murderer who moved to Elphinstone in 2003.
The pair grew cannabis on Holden's property for almost a year before a falling-out which led to their fight.
"Lee Torney struck Graham Holden with a shovel or spade," senior defence counsel Len Hartnett said.
"In the ensuing fight Mr Holden struck Lee Torney a number of times."
Police questioned Holden after Torney failed to report for parole, but the killer lied, first telling them he had gone "underground".
He later suggested Torney's younger brother, Mick, who by then had died of natural causes, had hired people to kill the gangster.
Mr Hartnett said Holden did not own up to the killing because he knew Torney was friends with notorious underworld figures, including Victoria's worst-ever
serial killer Carl Williams.
However, Justice King indicated this excuse would have limited influence on her when she determines Holden's sentence.
"He didn't want to admit," she said.
"People don't want to openly admit to killing someone.
"It's not something most people would volunteer."
Mr Hartnett said Holden - who was 19 when his father committed suicide - was driven to the brink of following suit because of the guilt and fear he felt after killing Torney.
Because Holden fears reprisal from the underworld, most of the 505 days he has spent in jail have been spent in protective custody or under medical surveillance, Mr Hartnett said.
It will take about a month before a psychological report detailing Holden's mental condition can be presented to Justice King, after which she will consider her sentence.