PICTURED: The deceased, Gregory Gibbins.
A NSW man has been found guilty of murder after he used a pocket knife to stab a talented local footballer outside a Central Coast pizza shop in 2015.
A Supreme Court jury on Wednesday morning found Bradley James Brooks, 21, guilty of murdering Gregory Gibbins and wounding his friend, Adam Swindell, with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in April 2015 in Toukley.
The jury had been deliberating since Monday afternoon.
During the trial the court heard Mr Gibbins, Mr Swindell and another friend left a music festival venue just before midnight and were approached by a woman, Amber Pellizzon, who asked if they could walk her past the nearby pizzeria where a group of young men had been verbally abusing her.
Brooks and his adopted younger brother, Joel Brooks, were standing outside the shop at the time.
As the three men and Ms Pellizzon walked towards the shop a group of men “made comments towards her” and Joel Brooks walked up to Mr Swindell and “stood very close”, according to the crown prosecutor Huw Baker.
“Mr Swindell said, ‘What are you doing? I have nothing to do with this’,” Mr Baker told the jury.
Bradley Brooks pulled a knife from his pants and stabbed Mr Gibbins in the chest before he and his brother chased Mr Swindell.
“Gregory Gibbins stumbled towards the roadway, collapsing face first on the ground,” Mr Baker said during the trial.
“Some rushed to assist him however he was unresponsive and bleeding heavily from his chest.”
Mr Swindell ran away but stopped when he realised he could not outrun the brothers who both struck him with a knife causing a severe cut to his upper right arm and his chest.
Mr Gibbins was taken to Gosford hospital where he died from a single stab wound to the chest that struck through his ribs to his heart.
Brooks argued he acted in self-defence and to protect his brother who’d been knocked to the ground during an argument.
The jury was told Brooks was “very protective” of his younger brother Joel and responded because he “thought it was necessary”.
Mr Gibbins was a 28-year-old car spray painter, who was a hooker with the Wyong Roos Rugby League Club.
