Two men who ambushed a Queensland father with swords and left him to bleed to death at his rural property have been jailed for life.

November 28, 2019

Two men drove 1000km to ambush a Queensland father, stabbing him with swords and leaving him to bleed to death in a bid to silence sexual assault allegations, a court has heard.

Mark Stephen Crump, 38, and Trevor Spencer, 73, were convicted in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday for murdering Gary Ryan, 43, on August 23, 2016.

The men were sentenced to life in prison, with Justice Martin Burns saying the parole authorities will need to think long and hard before ever considering them for release.

“This was a cowardly attack on a defenceless man who was quite unprepared for such an onslaught,” Justice Burns said.

“He was a good and decent man but neither of you showed him any decency.”

The court heard the men meticulously planned their attack weeks in advance, bought weapons and then drove north from Orange, in NSW, to reconnoitre the victim’s home at Mundubbera, near Bundaberg.

A day later they returned, calling Mr Ryan from his home to an outdoor toilet where they waited out of sight from his family inside the house.

“The pair of you ambushed him. You repeatedly stabbed him in the most callous and brutal manner,” Justice Burns said.

“You wounded him almost 60 times and then left him dying on the ground to be found by his mother and daughter.”

In their victim impact statements, Janet Ferguson and Aimee Ryan told the court they found Mr Ryan lying in a pool of his own blood but still alive.

“It was horrific for both of us to find Gary in such a way,” Ms Ferguson said. 

“I said to Gary ‘who did this to you son?’ And Gary’s response to me was ‘I’m dying mum’.”

The injuries to Mr Ryan’s head and neck were so extensive an undertaker refused to let Ms Ferguson view her son’s body because it was too “mutilated”.

Justice Burns said both men had a hand in the murder but Crump was the prime mover behind the attack.

He was motivated by his anger towards Mr Ryan for reporting the alleged sexual misconduct against a woman.

“And in particular, to suppress the furthering of the complaint she’d made to the police,” Justice Burns said.

“Such base wickedness is not frequently seen by these courts.”

“You have taken a life and left a gaping hole in the lives of Mr Ryan’s mother and daughter that can never be filled other than with profound grief,” he said.