By Rebecca Le May
The sentencing of a former bouncer found guilty of murdering a New Zealand musician by pushing him through a second-storey pub window has been deferred.
A West Australian Supreme Court jury delivered a guilty verdict against Stefan Pahia Schmidt, 26, on June 20 after an eight-day trial.
Schmidt had not denied pushing Andrew Marshall, 29, through the window of the Ocean Beach Hotel in Perth's coastal suburb of Cottesloe in May 2011.
But the trained boxer and kickboxer with links to Perth's outlaw Rock Machine motorcycle gang had pleaded not guilty, saying the death was an accident because he only meant to push Mr Marshall out of the way as he tried to tell two girls he knew to "go home".
Mr Marshall had been talking to the girls with his back to the window when Schmidt swore at him and pushed him through it.
Schmidt then fled the pub, glancing to where Mr Marshall lay dying on the footpath outside before departing.
Crown prosecutor Amanda Forrester told the court today that a life sentence was entirely justified, and there needed to be strong deterrents to acts of random violence in licensed venues.
Schmidt's defence, led by high profile Perth QC Tom Percy, sought a sentence of less than life.
Justice Ralph Simmonds deferred Schmidt's sentencing until Monday while he considered matters including an unrelated 2010 case where a sentence of less than life was sought for murder.
That application was unsuccessful.
Mr Marshall's father Alan flew to Perth for both the trial and sentencing, and on Friday read out in court a victim impact statement in which he spoke of the devastation of losing his son.
His wife, Wendy, and daughter and son also delivered victim impact statements via videolink from New Zealand.
Outside the court, Mr Marshall said he would accept whatever sentence was handed down.
NZN