A judge has found Conrad Lardner, 51, guilty of manslaughter for stabbing his 39-year-old cousin David Vale multiple times on the New South Wales Mid North Coast in 2023. Lardner was arrested on May 17, 2023, and charged with murder.

David Vale was discovered with stab wounds on Robert Eggins Street in South Kempsey on March 1, 2023. The judge-alone trial began on June 29, 2026, at Port Macquarie Supreme Court and lasted four weeks.

The court heard that Lardner stabbed Vale twice—once in the lower side of the chest and once through the rib cage and heart. Judge Campbell accepted that Lardner caused Vale's death but ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove intent to murder.

"I accept it is possible he armed himself with the knife, but there is no real evidence that supports the possibility, other than having the opportunity to do so," Judge Campbell said.

During cross-examination, Lardner testified that Vale confronted him, complaining about the quality of drugs he had been sold. Justice Campbell noted, "The accused gave evidence when the deceased arrived he was raving on about drugs the accused sold him."

Judge Campbell also stated that the 20 witnesses who testified during the trial, including Lardner, were "contradicted, discredited and challenged" by prior statements made to police or other witnesses.

Lardner was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter in the case stemming from a drug-related disagreement.

Sources